The Winged Fox
by Quathis
Summary: Naruto is betrayed at a young age, but is saved by someone thought to be dead.  This will lead Naruto down a new path of both exquisite sorrow as well as eternal joy.  AU
1. Meeting and Betrayal

**The Winged Fox**

Chapter One: Meeting and Betrayal

"Hello" human talking

**"Hello"** Kyuubi talking

* * *

_Five years after the Kyuubi attack on Konoha_

A small boy in clean but ragged clothing walked smiling through the village marketplace. He did it everyday just trying to get something edible to get him by another day. Sometimes there would be a traveling merchant band that would treat him like any other kid. Some of them even liked the whisker like marks on his cheeks and gave him some free food.

Unfortunately, the town's more established restaurants, stalls, and carts would either ignore him or treat him like vermin. He could yell at the top of his lungs and only get a sore throat or a kick in the rear for his troubles. He had no parents or friends to help him out, and could be seen walking alone wherever he went.

One day this boy went into the wooded areas within the village walls to get away from a particularly nasty dango dealer. His smile was gone, and tears ran freely down his cheeks. He felt empty, both in his stomach and in his heart. How he wished for friends, just someone to talk to. Anyone would do.

"Isn't there anyone who'll talk to me?!" He did know one person who talked to him, and he was nice. The old man with the big hat, but he was too busy to come by most of the time. Generally birthdays or to tell him about the academy he was going to start in the fall, where he'd get to meet lots of kids his age without their parents around to mess it up.

As much as he liked the old man, the boy wanted someone to be here right now. Someone who could help him understand why people acted the way they did. It was all he really thought about.

He stayed in the forest so long he fell asleep, hoping to dream of having a family. In his dreams, however, he saw only death and destruction. The village he lived in being attacked by a giant red fire. It was kept moving towards a tiny white flame until a yellow bolt of lightning came and tied up the red fire. The lightning pushed the giant red fire into the little white one, and for a moment the lightning seemed to hover over the tiny flame protectively before disappearing.

The boy awoke with a start, crying again but without knowing why exactly. The dream seemed so different from any he could remember, most of those involved being surrounded by food and friends. He couldn't say why, but when he saw the bolt of lightning fade it filled him with great sadness.

"**As it should be, little one."**

The boy's head shot up at the powerful voice.

"Who's there?" Equal amounts of hope and fear laced his voice.

"**I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The Nine-tailed Demon Fox who was the red fire in your dream."**

The boy looked up and realized that he wasn't in the forest anymore, but a sewer like the ones he had hidden in before to get away from the emptiness. Water halfway up his leg filled the room he was in. In front of him was a giant gate with a piece of paper on it with the word "Seal" on it. Behind the gate was a young man, wearing red and black clothes. He had hair as dark as the night sky and his eyes were a brilliant shade of red.

"You don't look like a Nine Tailed Fox."

**"I took this form so you wouldn't be frightened. My true form is much bigger and much more frightening."**

"I'm not scared of anything! I'm going to be Hokage like the old man! Show me your true form; I'm not going to be scared!" Naruto's face and voice both plainly showed his anger.

The young man seemed to bristle for a moment before he began laughing.

**"You've got guts kid. Okay, I'll show you my true form, but don't say I didn't warn you."**

"Come on get on with it already! Let's see the great Kyuubi no Kitsune!"

The young man's smirk could only be called feral when red fire-chakra started growing out of the ground, circling the youth. After picking up some speed the chakra flames sprung from the ground and enveloped the young man. The fire grew until it was as tall as the Hokage Tower when it disappeared, like a great breath had blown it out like a candle. Where the young man had been was a giant fox with nine tails twisting and dancing behind the red body of Naruto's new acquaintance.

Naruto was in shock. One of its teeth looked bigger than he did, and the power he felt was enough to make him take a step back. He did not, however, show any sign of fear, only awe.

"That was so cool! Can you teach me to do that?" Naruto's enthusiastic response surprised the Fox, who chuckled within his cage.

"**What is your name boy? I would know my vessel."**

"U-uzumaki Naruto. Um, where are we?" The boy realized he'd forgotten to find out where he was, or how he got there.

"**This is your mindscape, Naruto-kun. Do you know how you came to be here?"**

Naruto just shook his head.

The Kyuubi sighed. **"Your desire to have a friend allowed your mind to contact me and showed you how we came to be joined like this."**

Naruto looked up at the great demon and asked in a half-hopeful tone, "So does that mean you'll be my friend?"

"**Yes Naruto, I will be your friend."**

Little Naruto jumped for joy, then began dancing. All the while screaming, "YATTA! I'VE GOT A FRIEND! YATTA!"

"**How can one so small have such a loud voice?"** quietly murmured the Kyuubi, cringing at the boy's volume.

Naruto suddenly stopped and looked at his first friend. "So if you were the red fire in my dream, what was the yellow lightning? It seemed so sad when it faded away."

The massive maw released a sigh. **"That would be the Yondaime Hokage. He was once a good friend of mine, and I was on my way to visit him that day when I was attacked by a great dragon. It used its power to unleash my demonic love of destruction and set me loose on my friend's home. He sealed me into you in the hope of saving both his village and myself, but it cost him his life."**

Naruto looked sadly at the water that covered the floor. "That's why no one likes me isn't it?"

"**Unfortunately yes, their fear of me makes them fear and hate you. For this I am truly sorry."** Kyuubi bowed his head in apology.

Naruto broke out into a bright grin. "Don't worry about it; they'll all respect me once I become Hokage. Then they'll be my friends too."

The Kyuubi looked intently at the boy for a moment, weighing what he said with the scrawny child before him. **"Hokage, eh? If you want to be Hokage, then you'll have to be able to be the strongest ninja in this village. It will take a lot of work, but we might just make you up to the task when the time comes."**

Naruto's eyes became as big and watery as freshly washed saucers. "Do you mean you'll train me?" The Kyuubi could barely hear him with his large and sensitive ears.

"**Consider it my repaying the debt of causing your village to hate you. This won't be easy, but if you are willing I can train you to the best of my ability. While I don't know any human techniques, I can teach you to control your chakra and strengthen your body. That's the best I can offer you since you unfortunately lack the power to perform even the weakest of my techniques."**

Naruto looked like Christmas had come early. "Are you kidding? That's great! But . . . what's 'chakra'?"

The Kyuubi's head met the ground in a facefault. **"You've got to be kidding me. This will take more work than I thought." **Fortunately Naruto couldn't understand what his new teacher just said, with Kyuubi's voice muffled by the floor. Kyuubi pulled himself off the ground and looked at his student. **"Come closer kid, I got some things that will help your training go faster."**

"Really?!"

"**Yes, it most certainly will."**

Once Naruto was right in front of the gate, Kyuubi exhaled powerful. A thin thread of chakra left his fang-filled mouth and flew over to Naruto, quickly entering his ear. After a moment, Naruto felt like he was choking and when he opened his mouth, a blue thread of chakra went from his mouth to Kyuubi's ear. The two threads grew brighter for a moment before fading.

"

* * *

So Naruto's training began with a demanding regimen of running, pushups, and carrying around heavy objects from place to place (logs, rocks, pails of water, etc.). It took several months before Kyuubi was satisfied with his progress, then Naruto began his first chakra exercise.

* * *

Naruto was currently standing in front of a tree wondering what his training would start with. "Okay Kyuubi-sensei, let's get started already!" Naruto was bouncing with barely contained excitement as well as the joy of not carrying another water bucket.

**"Patience Naruto. Self-control is an important trait of a ninja, after all."**

Naruto stood still for a moment before slowly bending his arms and legs.

**"What are you doing now?"**

"Working on self-control, Kyuubi-sensei. Am I doing it right?"

**" . . ."**

"Kyuubi-sensei?"

Naruto began to hear banging sounds on his link with his demonic trainer. Naruto asked his sensei what was the matter in a worried voice, but only got silence. After repeated calls the Kyuubi finally responded in a very agitated voice.

**"The self-control I was referring to was of the mind, not the body. Now onto your first lesson - tree walking."**

"Tree-walking? How do I walk on trees?"

**"With chakra, of course."**

"Oh . . . what was chakra again?"

**"Didn't you already ask that question?" **Kyuubi sounded very irritated at being questioned again.

"Oh yeah . . . but you never told me the first time I asked?!"

Kyuubi almost blushed at the mental mistake, silently cursing the boy for his highly distractive nature. **"Oh all right. Chakra, as humans know it, is a blending of physical and spiritual energies."**

"Huh?" Naruto's face had gathered at its center in a confused expression. "Physical and spiritual energies? Where am I supposed to find those? Are they in the tree? Is that why I supposed to walk up this tree, to collect the energy then put it in a blender?"

Kyuubi's face once again met the ground in a face-fault. After he had pulled himself away from this renewed acquaintance, he spoke in a slow calm voice, struggling to hide the irritation and frustration he was feelling in mass quantities.

"**You already have the two energies. Physical energy is the energy in your body, and spiritual energy is the energy contained in the non-physical part of yourself. And to blend something just means to mix the parts together. Understand?"**

Naruto stopped to think about this for a moment. "I think so. So you want me to walk up this tree to learn how to mix those two energy things together?"

**"YES!! I think you're finally catching on."**

Naruto felt very proud of himself for having figured this out. He just didn't know his teacher was being very sarcastic about what he just said. He did, however, notice one minor detail they hadn't covered. "So how do I mix them up?"

Kyuubi sighed as he realized that this was how everything was going to be, endless questions he'd have to answer. How tedious.

**"I guess THAT should be our first lesson, since having you die from a broken neck would seriously interfere with my plans for you kid. Don't ask questions, just sit down and do what I tell you. Okay?"**

"Okay."

**"Alright, you need to breathe in slowly through your nose, hold your breath for a moment then breathe out through your mouth. You think you can handle that?"**

"I think I can handle breathing Kyuubi-sensei."

**"No talking, just breathing. Or I drop chakra control from the list and you never become Hokage?"**

"But you promised to help me become Hokage!"

**"Then you must do exactly what I tell you! Now, resume the breathing exercise. Remember, no talking."**

Naruto kept silent this time and began to do what he had been told. After many failed attempts to keep still during the exercise, Naruto was finally able to achieve a proper meditative trance.

**"Good, now slow everything down. Feel the flow of energy inside of your body. Focus on the strongest flow, and follow that to your center. That's where all the flows connect."**

Again, it took several attempts to keep his attention where he was instructed, but he finally managed it after a few screams from his sensei. Once his attention was on the swirling energies at his center he couldn't stop mentally gawking at it. Since Naruto had never felt chakra before, he wasn't ready for the rush that hit him like a raging river. He felt energized, pumped, and just plain _alive._

"Whoa."

His whisper broke his concentration and his link with his chakra was broken. Naruto breathed heavily at the exhaustion he felt, as well as the empty feeling that he now felt in his stomach. Taking a deep breath, he began again the process of reaching his energies. As Kyuubi had said, the second time took much fewer tries than the first, familiarity and hunger giving the boy an edge this time around.

This time he basked in the feelings of power and energy. When his hunger was satisfied for now, Naruto took a closer look at the energies and noticed the different feels that they all had. Curiosity took hold as he tried to feel them all. The more he focused the clearer the mental image became. Then it seemed as if he was looking at them with his regular eyes. Come to think of it, why did his feet feel wet?

He was in his head again! Just like when he talked with Kyuubi-sensei.

At that very thought, a very amused rumble filled his ears.

**"Well, you seem to have learned this particular lesson rather quickly. Given your past performance, I would have thought you'd need me to hold your hand the whole way."**

"Kyuubi-sensei, that was awesome … I had no idea chakra felt like this." Naruto's hushed whisper filled the silent mindscape.

**"Kid, you've barely begun to feel power. Now that we're both here, I'll show you how your body mixes these chaotic energies into stable chakra."**

Naruto could only look openmouthed as a pale blue mass of light mixed with something that to Naruto looked like thick transparent air. The resulting blue flame was bright and joined the flow of power within the blond boy. Naruto tried to make more chakra and felt both stronger and more tired after each attempt. He tried one more time, wanting to see more of the blue fire, but he instead fell into the black grip of unconsciousness.

* * *

**"YOU IDIOT!! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL YOURSELF?!"**

"I was just trying to make more chakra. Isn't that a good thing?"

Kyuubi took a couple breaths and got his voice to stop echoing inside his vessel's mindscape. **"Yes, more chakra is a good thing, but comes from **_**your**_** energies and if you run out of those then you will **_**die.**_** I'm guessing you don't want that to happen."**

Naruto shook his head vigorously.

**"Good. Now, since you're half-dead I suggest that you go home and sleep to get your strength back. Understand?"**

"Yes Kyuubi-sensei."

**"And don't forget to eat something! Your body needs food to make all that energy you just saw."**

"But where? Nobody from here will give me anything?" Naruto had begun to cry at this point, feeling again the loneliness Kyuubi had helped dispel.

**"Find someone! Crying about it isn't going to help. Just go and find someone!"**

Naruto began wandering through the village, hoping to find some kind soul that would let him eat something good. Eventually he came to little stall with a dirty countertop but the mouth-watering smells coming from the kitchen were more than enough to tempt the hungry tyke.

"Um, excuse me?"

A man with graying brown hair looked down at the small boy in the tattered clothes and Naruto wondered why the man stared wide-eyed at him for a moment before a smile lit up his worn face. "Hey kiddo, you like ramen?" His voice was inviting and Naruto didn't see a hint of malice in the older man's eyes.

Naruto didn't know what ramen was, but his stomach apparently did because it answered the man loudly. The man laughed as Naruto sheepishly smiled and scratched the back of his head. The man turned and called out to the back of the stand. "Ayame, will you keep our new customer company while I whip him up some ramen?"

A voice came from a storage room in the back. "Sure Dad." Naruto looked over to see "Ayame" but no one came out.

"Hi! What's your name?" This bright energetic greeting came from behind Naruto and caused him to fall off his stool. He was caught by two slender yet strong arms that helped him get back to his seat. "Sorry to startle you, but the look on your face was worth it."

Naruto finally got a look at his ambusher and saw a girl older than he was with brown hair and a very enthusiastic smile. Naruto could feel his cheek heat up a bit and chuckled nervously, scratching the back of head once again. Ayame looked at him expectantly. He glanced at the chef and saw him busy with dough. He looked back at Ayame, who was still staring at him. "What?!" His indignant shout came out as more of a squeak, causing the heat in his cheeks to get hotter.

Ayame seemed to just ignore the blush on his cheeks as well as his question. "I asked you a question. You haven't answered me yet."

Her matter-of-fact tone of voice made his blush deepen with irritation and embarrassment. "What question?"

"When I said hello, I asked for your name."

"You did?" Naruto looked at the girl like she was nuts, but after another brief stare-off; he just shrugged and put on a toothy grin. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to be Hokage!"

Ayame's eyebrows raised at his loud announcement. "Aren't you a little young to be Hokage?"

Naruto let out a loud exasperated sigh. "I'm not talking about tomorrow, but I will be Hokage one day!"

Ayame smiled at his enthusiasm and ruffled his hair affectionately. Naruto vainly tried to keep her from ruffling his already messy hair. He looked at her again and finally realized that he had heard her voice from inside the stall a few seconds before she'd surprised him from behind. This confused him and he asked her about it. She just smiled.

"I used to be in the Ninja Academy, but Dad needed help in here at the stand. I did learn a bit about chakra and know a bit about sneaking around." She glanced at the chef and leaned over and whispered conspiringly, "Helps when I want a midnight snack."

Naruto stared at her admiringly for a moment before a bowl of tasty smells was set right next to him. "Here you go, one bowl of miso ramen." The pride was evident in the chef's voice.

Naruto looked at the bowl and inhaled the aroma greedily, before reaching for the bowl with his hands.

"NOOOO!!" The chef's scream caused Naruto to freeze. The hungry child looked at the man with terrified eyes, clutching possessively at the bowl in his hands. Was the man going to take the bowl with the yummy smells away? The man took a few breaths and seemed calmer. He pointed at a cup with sticks in it. "Use the chop-sticks, not your hands. The soup's hot, and I didn't want you to burn yourself."

Naruto relaxed at the explanation and grabbed some "chopped sticks." He looked at them for a moment before looking at the chef. "Now what do I do?"

The chef stared at the boy incredulously before letting out a guffaw and told Ayame to teach the kid while he went back to tending his kitchen. With great patience, Ayame showed Naruto how to hold the chop sticks and how to eat with them. After many tries and three sets of chop-sticks, Naruto finally managed to eat the whole bowl. He knew he should have been full but his seemed to growl louder than when he first arrived.

The chef looked over and smiled and silently put another much bigger bowl in front of Naruto went back to work. Naruto loudly thanked "Mr. Ramen" which set Ayame into another fit of giggles. Those ended when Naruto dubbed her Ramen-Hime, and it was her father's turn to laugh.

After the new bowl was devoured, Naruto felt his fatigue came back in full force and asked how much he owed.

The chef looked at him for a long moment before telling him cheerfully, "Well, the first bowl was on the house . . . " He stopped when he saw Naruto's confused stare at the roof of the stand. "That means it was free, but the second bowl will cost 10 ryu."

Ayame looked at her father with a shocked expression. His responding look told her to keep quiet. Naruto didn't notice any of this, exited as he was at the tasty yet cheap food. He paid and dragged himself home. He almost missed Kyuubi voice in his half asleep state.

"

* * *

Naruto couldn't summon the energy to make a reply as he fell into his nice warm bed. Dreams of tasty ramen and nice people welcomed him.

"Doesn't this get any easier?"

**"If you weren't such a dunce, we would have to do this all the time. Now try it again."**

"Okay. Here I go!"

A week had passed since the near fatal lesson about chakra, and Naruto had made little progress in his lessons on chakra control. The principle was simple enough: Focus chakra to the soles of his feet so they stick to the tree. The execution, however-

"Ahhhhh, not again!"

THUMP!!

Suffice it to say that Naruto's attempts at doggedly running at the tree while pushing chakra in the direction of his feet weren't very effective.

"**Enough brat, this isn't working. You start the Ninja Academy in a month, so they can help you learn how humans use chakra. Until then, back to physical training."**

Naruto's only response was a groan.

* * *

That fall, Naruto started the Academy and was reacquainted with the distaste most of the village regarded him with. He had almost forgotten it while training with Kyuubi and only talking with Ayame and Teuchi (he'd finally asked the chef for his name). This distaste increased because of his early admission into the Academy.

At first he did well, especially in the physical and chakra manipulation lessons. His academic progression was minimal as he had little interest in those subjects. The only exception was the history lessons about the Hokages, which he more attention than anyone else.

Ayame had continued to sneak up on him, but eventually he was able to detect her. She wanted him to teach her some of the things he learned in the Academy, but due to Kyuubi's instructions to the contrary he always told her no with a childish grin.

Between Academy lessons, eating ramen at Ichiraku's (Teuchi and Ayame's stand), and his ongoing lessons with Kyuubi, Naruto found little free time. Not that he wanted it. He felt stronger than ever and, except at the Academy, he didn't have to deal with the cold looks most people gave him. He had finally learned the tree-climbing exercise using the hand seals he learned in the Academy to focus chakra, and less than a month later, mastered another chakra control technique that let him walk on water.

It was the happiest he had ever been.

* * *

A little over a year and a half after meeting the Kyuubi, Naruto was sitting in a tree resting from his morning workout. While sitting there he saw two girls his age picking flowers, one with pink hair and one with pale blond hair. Keeping silent and not moving an inch, Naruto watched them with increasing envy. He wished he could join them, but experience had taught him that trying to play with kids his age lead to heartbreak and trying to play with older kids lead to bruises, with Ayame being the sole exception.

While in this state of observation, he noticed a rather angry looking girl with a group behind her making their way over to the girls he'd been watching. Using the enhanced hearing Kyuubi let him have, he picked up that they wanted to attack the two girls he was watching. Being the future Hokage that he was, Naruto jumped down to stop the bullies.

* * *

Naruto was looking at his blood soaked right hand in horror. He felt the need to throw up every time he thought about what he'd done, and what his multi-tailed sensei had asked of him.

He was kneeling in the forest far from where he'd been, trying to come to terms with what he'd done. The dried blood on his hand wouldn't let him forget.

**"What are you doing?!" **

Naruto froze at the fury in the Kyuubi's voice. "I hu-hur, I hurt that girl Sensei! I . . . I didn't act like a Hokage." His conflicted heart was further rent by the Kyuubi's next statement.

**"You acted like a ninja."**

**"**But Hokage's are the best ninja's, and they don't hurt the people in their village. Even the bullies. That's what the Old Man Hokage told me."

Naruto didn't hear a response from the Kyuubi and just stayed on the ground for several minutes.

**"I see you're too much like that old fool, despite my influence."**

Naruto's confusion was visible. "Why are you calling Old Man Hokage a fool? He's nice to me."

**"If someone's a threat to you, you should remove them and the threat. That's the only way to survive."**

"That doesn't sound right. That's not what being Hokage is all about. That's not what I believe, Kyuubi-sensei!"

After that last impassioned cry Naruto found himself back in his mindscape facing the Kyuubi's cage. To his shock he noticed that some of the bars had been broken and there was a gap in the demon's prison. Naruto cried in shock as red chakra came pouring out of the gap and formed a giant paw, slamming him to the ground.

"Kyuubi-sensei, what's going on? Why are you doing this?"

**"Still don't get it you stupid little brat? I'm a demon, a power-hungry treacherous demon that doesn't do favors for anyone. Can you understand that you little imbecile?" **

Naruto was speechless as his first friend betrayed him. Kyuubi just laughed at the hurt expression on the boy's face.

**"Ha ha ha, you actually thought a mighty demon lord like me could ever by the friend of a pathetic little human like you. Ha ha ha ha HA, that's just rich. All this time I've been preparing your body so I could take it over, and when I do the first thing I'm going to do is burn down that little ramen shack you love so much."**

Naruto felt anger flare within him at the demon's last taunt. He glared powerless under the chakra paw of the Kyuubi.

**"And the best part is that fool of a Hokage will probably take pity on you afterwards. You've seen how good an actor I am; I think I can convince him to train me in the ninja arts. That will only increase my power, and when I'm done learning from him, I'll devour him and absorb his power. Won't that be **_**fun?"**_

"You leave Old Man Hokage alone, and don't you dare touch Ayame-chan and Teuchi-ojisan. I'll stop you!"

**"Really? HA! You can't even fight a fraction of my strength. What are you going to do, bite my toenails off?"**

Naruto struggled under the weight of the paw and despite the fire he felt, he couldn't get free. He lay there breathing heavily, listening to the cruel laughter of the Kyuubi. He felt tears of helplessness flow from his eyes. Despite his confident shout before, he wasn't sure he could stop the beast that wanted to hurt his few other friends.

The trapped boy began to shout for help, while continuing his struggles with the fox. Naruto could feel control of his body slipping away as the Kyuubi started to take possession. Finally he focused everything and prayed to Kami that someone would help him.

* * *

A few miles from where Naruto was struggling with the Nine-Tailed Fox, a couple of ninjas were returning from a simple C ranked mission. As they rested under a tree they heard a deep rumbling coming from a nearby mountain. They looked at the mountain and started to go investigate when a great gout of flame burst from the base and turned towards their home village.

The worried ninjas raced to catch up with the flying fire.

* * *

A/N: Dang, that took a long time to write, and is the longest chapter I've ever done. This idea has been with me awhile and this will be an epic, going beyond the timeskip and Shippuden. Please tell me what you thought of my attempt at a new story universe. 


	2. Reunions and Flashbacks

I don't own Naruto. This is for fun and not profit.

**The Winged Fox**

Chapter Two: Reunions and Flashbacks

Naruto looked at his treacherous former sensei and continued to fight against the red chakra paw holding him down. He tried focusing chakra to his muscles for an extra boost, but he just couldn't get enough to throw off the paw. Every time he felt the desire to just give up, Ayame and Teuchi's faces would show up and smile at him. Finally Old Man Hokage's peaceful smile came as well, and Naruto's eyes lit with inspiration.

He still had a kunai with him! That would help get the great red paw off his back. The boy squirmed under his oppressor and finally pulled out the small kunai he had strapped to his leg ever since Old Man Hokage had given it to him. Now armed, Naruto once again began focusing his chakra.

**"Stubborn brat! Still fighting are you? Can't you see that I've won? How can you possibly hope to beat me? I am centuries old with experience and power beyond your comprehension, and you're a seven year old human brat who needs someone to hold his hand to do anything."**

Kyuubi's cruel laughter cut deep into Naruto's spirit, bringing despair again. Naruto saw Ayame's smiling face and just focused on it. His desire to protect her and her father, his first real friends, drove him and made him keep building chakra for one big blast. The Kyuubi didn't see the knife in Naruto's hand, and even if he had, he would have thought the weapon useless.

Kyuubi finally noticed Naruto's building chakra and decided to let the whelp try whatever he had planned then the fox would savor demolishing the brat's hope. This time was a little different than the others when Naruto erupted in the blue blaze of chakra and drove his tiny chakra covered kunai backwards into the paw. The paw recoiled off of his body allowing him to get off the ground.

Naruto got a good look at the chakra extension and saw bubbles where his kunai had pierced it. Within seconds the bubbles settled into a small discolored scar. Kyuubi's chakra glowed with a hellish light and the paw changed to a gnarled hand with wisps of its foul chakra coming off giving the impression of hair. After flexing itself experimentally, the newly formed appendage lunged at Naruto and held him tightly in a burning grip.

Exhausted, Naruto tried to catch his breath and noticed that his vision was starting to blur. He recognized this as an early sign of chakra exhaustion, something he'd gone through repeatedly. He hung his head in defeat, knowing he'd reached his limit. He didn't even have the energy to moan in pain at the burning chakra the Kyuubi now had him in.

The Kyuubi chuckled darkly, **"My my that was quite a bit of chakra you just released. And you tied it with a mental construct, I'm actually impressed. I never even taught you how, did I? I must be a better sensei than I thought." **Naruto glared weakly at the cruel humor in the Kyuubi's malevolent voice. Whatever foul remark the Kyuubi was about to make was interrupted by the shriek of a bird and a ball of crimson fire high in the mindscape.

Naruto looked limply on in confusion at the mysterious fire as it cut the chakra hand then drove the rest of Kyuubi's chakra back into the cage. Naruto fell limply onto the ground and rolled painfully to see what was going on. The fire had settled in front of the cage, and he watched in amazement as it took the form of a giant bird. The bird's crimson fire fought the Kyuubi's red chakra and for a moment Naruto couldn't tell which red fire was whose. Then the fire got hotter and brighter and Kyuubi's chakra was beaten further back.

So engrossed in the fight was Naruto that he barely noticed a final burst of the Kyuubi's chakra and a tiny needle coming right for him. He weakly held a hand up in a meager defense and felt a familiar yet more intense burning in his right hand as the needle hit and poked out the other side, lodged in his palm. He held onto consciousness long enough to hear a woman scream something, but he had ceased to care by that point.

* * *

Singing was the first thing to greet him as he woke up. Naruto, still with his eyes closed, felt very comfortable and warm. A nice soft bed under him and a thick warm blanket on top made for one very content and very sleepy boy. The beautiful singing coming from nearby only added to his desire to stay under the covers.

Unfortunately, the sleepy boy could feel pressure building and he really didn't want this nice bed to get wet. So he raised his head and peeled one eyelid back to look around. The small room didn't really have anything but the bed he was laying on with one door to his left. He mechanically removed the red and yellow blanket and swung himself off the bed. He staggered to the door and opened it slowly.

Once in the hallway, his senses of smell and hearing made him turn and follow the singing which was accompanied by the smells of cooking food. Right before he reached the door he heard a pleasant voice call out, "Bathroom's the other way, second door on the left."

Naruto stood shocked for a moment before the pressure reminded him of his more immediate needs. Turning around, he practically ran to the desired room and relieved himself. With his bladder now empty, Naruto' stomach began to make itself known with a loud growl. The sound reminded him of the Kyuubi's voice.

The Kyuubi . . . Naruto gasped in shock at the renewed sense of loss. Tears began to well up in his eyes when the pleasant voice again called to him, "Breakfast is ready! Come get it before it gets cold!"

Deciding that eating was better than crying, he slowly walked back down the hall and opened the door a crack. Peeking through he saw a table covered with a clean white tablecloth set with two plates of food, though Naruto couldn't say what kind it was. The singing was clearer now, but he still couldn't understand the words. Then he saw the person singing.

It was a woman with long golden-brown hair wearing a white apron over a simple sky blue dress that ended just above her ankles. She placed two glasses of milk in front of each plate and turned to the door, looking intensely at Naruto with bright golden eyes. He shut the door quickly, and found that just the thought of that penetrating gaze made it hard to breath. "Are you coming to eat?" He could hear some hurt in her voice, like Ayame's when he didn't want to try a new dish.

He cautiously cracked the door again, and saw that the woman was sitting with her back to him. "Please eat. I won't hurt you," she spoke without turning around. Naruto froze at her words and took an involuntary step away from the odd lady. He stopped when he saw her head bow sadly, and it reminded him so much of Teuchi that he just couldn't help but be curious about who she was.

Abandoning his fear for the moment, the young ninja in training slowly opened the door and walked silently to the other plate. He didn't look at the woman; he just focused on the smells that again made his stomach growl. With hunger overriding all caution, Naruto jumped into the chair and dug into the tasty food with his bare hands. Once his plate was about as clean as when he started, he licked his fingers and wiped them on his shorts.

"Please use a napkin."

He paused at her tight voice. He slowly looked up at her and was relieved that her eyes were directed at her plate and not at him. Her right hand was pointing just to his left and he saw a cloth napkin sitting under a metal trinket of some kind. Grabbing the tool, he studied for a moment, noticing the four dull points at one end and decided it wouldn't make a very effective weapon.

"That's a fork. You use it to eat."

His eyes leapt to the woman across from him and saw that her eyes were still focused on her plate. He wondered if she was somehow reading his mind.

"Just your emotions, not your thoughts."

Okay, now he knew she hadn't looked at him and this was getting creepy. Who was this woman? He finally blurted out his question and her sad smile just made him more on edge.

"How about a story to explain?" her voice sounded cheerful but Naruto had heard a similar tone from his own mouth and knew something was wrong.

"I don't want to hear a stupid story! I want to know who you are and what's going on!" His chest heaved as he worked to catch his breath.

"The story is about me and how I came to your rescue from the demon Kyuubi no Kitsune." The false tone was gone, replaced with a calm resignation. Naruto looked at her and shrugged.

"OK, let's hear it." If she wanted to talk, he'd let her talk.

"Close your eyes, please." The polite nature of her voice threw him off as no one was polite with him. It was either really familiar like Ayame and her dad or the hateful, resentful, empty, or spiteful way the rest of the village regarded him with. He shrugged and for once did what he was told without comment. He heard her take a deep breath that was followed by several tense moments of silence. His head felt a bit weird for moment but it past quickly and he decided it was just nerves.

"Very well, now you may open your eyes," she said with power behind her quiet voice. His opened to a wide crowded hallway, filled with the oddest looking people the boy had ever seen. Scales, fur, and feathers seemed to take the place of clothes and some of the "people" even looked like animals that decided to get up and walk on two legs. They walked past him and didn't even look at him, which made him scowl in anger.

"Don't be angry with them. They really can't see you, seeing how we're inside my mind." He was getting really mad at her reading his mind . . . wait just a minute, did she just say they were inside her mind? He looked at her sharply to find her facing to his right, in time to see her eyes move away from him.

Naruto took that moment to really study her face, not just those intense eyes. Her nose now stood out as her most prominent feature, with its sharp point. Her forehead rose gently from her small brown eyebrows at a gentle slope, giving her head a sleeker look. Her tiny chin almost made the fierce looking woman appear to have a slight overbite, but her mouth was the right size to match it. Overall, her profile made him think of a hawk turned into a woman.

"It isn't polite to stare," she said, her eyes looking towards him without her head moving. Naruto had the decency to blush at his behavior before his expression turned to one of anger.

"So what are you waiting for?! You going to tell your story or not?" The loud mouthed youngster shut said mouth when the woman turned and looked him straight in the eye. With her powerful golden eyes focused on him he could barely breathe. Try as he might, he couldn't look away from her. He gulped for breath once she ended her stare.

"My apologies, I did not mean to make you wait," she said. She started walking straight through several of the animal people. "Please follow me. I shall begin my story." Naruto walked over, at first careful not to touch any of the imaginary "people" walking by. Then he walked through a man with ram's horns on his head and didn't even feel anything. After that he ran straight to the woman's side regardless of who or what was in his way.

She started speaking in the same quiet yet strong voice. "This is the Ophani Court. The Ophani are a beast people whose duty it is to protect and guide the human race towards the Source."

"Like angels?"

"Similar, but not as powerful. Ophani are also not immortal as our angelic brethren are."

"What's 'brethren' mean?" He knew what immortal meant from the Kyuubi's many taunts about his weak _mortal_ body.

"They're are considered family to the Ophani, as well as humans."

Naruto's face fell at the mention of family. The woman's followed soon after and she picked up her tale with a small sad smile. "I am over there." He followed her pointing finger and saw a grinning double of the woman he was standing next to. He gaped openly at how carefree and young this other version of his guide seemed. "I was just declared a master of the Polymorph technique." At his confused look she added, "That means I can change how I look."

Naruto's eye's lit up, "You mean like the transformation jutsu I saw at the Academy?"

She laughed softly, "Polymorphing is a much more powerful technique than the simple Henge (Transformation) that they teach at the Academy. Henge will only change your outer shape; Polymorphing can alter my body down to the very genetic code. Basically it means no one short of soul reader could tell I wasn't who I was pretending to be."

Naruto's mouth was hanging open at the mere thought of such a technique, with drool already falling to the floor. The woman smiled at his behavior and waited a minute before she reached her hand under his jaw and gently closed it without getting any drool on her in the process. The now enthusiastic child looked up at her with new appreciation.

Her smile grew slightly with his improved opinion of her. "Now back to the story, Naruto."

"How do you know my name?! I thought you weren't reading my mind!" His outrage at the supposed betrayal was very evident in his tone and body language.

The woman raised her hands in defense, "I haven't and if you will remain quiet and allow me to finish my story, you will learn how I know your name." He nodded in agreement, but his face was still stuck as a scowl mixed with a pout, which took some of his fierceness away. She sighed and started her story again.

"I had just been declared a master and was planning to go celebrate with some friends when I met an interesting young man."

Naruto looked silently as the grinning version of his stoic storyteller went off with a large group of mixed Ophani and the scene changed from the hall to a long beach with crystal clear waters and tall trees that were both filled with Ophani of many different races. Naruto's eyes widened at the change and looked to the storyteller to let him know what was going on.

"This beach is a common gathering place when different kinds of Ophani want to do something together. Food and shelter for almost all creatures can be found here. Over there is the young man I mentioned."

Naruto looked and saw a blond haired teenager, who looked very familiar for some reason, awkwardly sitting with a group of odd looking lizards who seemed to be talking to him, but he couldn't hear anything they said. Then he realized that he couldn't hear what anyone was saying. He turned to the storyteller to ask what was going on, but she had again predicted it.

"I've cut the sound since I didn't think you wanted to listen to the senseless chatter of Ophani youth. Anything you wish to know I can tell you, seeing how these are my memories. Now remember to remain quiet so we can get through this, then you may ask whatever you want. Alright?"

Naruto nodded quietly.

"Alright, now that young man over there is Namikaze Minato, and he was just promoted to Chunnin in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. He is sitting with his distant cousins, the sky dragons of the East. Minato only had a tiny amount of Ophani blood in him, but Ophani care about family no matter how distant. They brought him here to help him get acquainted with his noble heritage."

The scene blurred a bit as young Minato was practically thrown by two of the dragons over to where the woman's other self was sitting, talking with a young man whose eyes had a similar intensity to them.

"He interrupted a conversation between me and Denning, my boyfriend at the time, and shyly asked me if I would go on a date with him. I asked him who he was and when he proudly said he was Chunnin, I had no idea what that was. Denning and I talked with him for a while and learned that he was only fifteen at the time. For Ophani, who live five or six centuries at least, fifteen made Minato seem almost a toddler to us. We treated him like the young child we thought him to be and found him to be quite mature for his young age.

"Eventually it was time for everyone to go home and Minato asked me again if I would go on a date with him. Not wanting to hurt his feelings I told him if he wanted to go on a date with me he had to earn it. His task was to create an Ophani-style technique using shape manipulation of his human chakra, meaning he had to bend his human chakra in such a way that it would impress even an Ophani."

The beach scene faded and was replaced with a wide pine tree.

"We parted in good spirits and I honestly thought I would never see him again. To my surprise a few years later a much taller and older looking Minato came to my home looking for his date. Fortunately for him, I had a perfect memory and remembered who he was and what he was doing there. When I asked for his technique, he showed me the Rasengan. A mass of chakra with many different rotations all compacted into a ball no bigger than an orange."

The new blond who looked even more familiar to Naruto held a ball of blue energy in his hand. The ball swirled and pulsed with power that even in the memory looked impressive.

"It took my breath away to see such a beautiful way to mold energy. So he got his date and many more. Denning and I had drifted apart with our different courses of study. After a few more years, Minato asked me to marry him. My heart said yes, but my mind said that it would be mistake to marry a human who couldn't even live another hundred years.

"He was heartbroken when I told him no."

The image of the devastated man made Naruto want to cry himself, and made his resentment for the storyteller grow. How could she hurt him like that when he loved her so much? The scene changed again to show the storyteller herself crying, and his resentment faded as his confusion grew. He saw a beardless old man with long grey hair up and put his hand on her shoulder. He said something that made her stop crying and a surprised, almost fearful look covered her face.

"A month after I told Minato no, the great Vermillion Bird, the Guardian of the South asked to see me. The old man you saw was my Great-great-great grandfather, and the only one of my family who understood my feelings for Minato. I was such a mess it seemed to take ages to get myself ready for the meeting with the Vermilion Bird Suzaku."

Naruto by now was used to the shifting scenes but was speechless at the grandeur of the Temple of Suzaku. Massive pillars of crimson flame that seemed to actually hold up the giant building didn't seem to bother the form of the storyteller as her younger self walked through the front gate. A middle-aged man in bright red robes greeted her warmly and motioned for her to walk with him. They went inside a room that had a giant fire that took up an entire wall, with bare ash colored stone making up the rest of the large room.

"This is where I was tested and found worthy to become the next Suzaku. I couldn't believe that they were asking me to overlook the Southern Hemisphere's safety and progression. The old Suzaku told me that I had been chosen, and due to my test, which focused on my feelings for Minato, I was found worthy to take his place. I was greatly surprised when he called for Seiryuu, the Western Guardian."

Out of the fire came two men, an older man with silver hair and a gentle smile wearing a blue robe with a silver belt securing it at his waist. The younger man was undoubtedly Minato, grinning happily. The Suzaku-to-be in the room was shocked and looked at the blue eyed man with a bit of shame and fear. He just went over and hugged her fiercely.

"Minato wasn't idle in the month after I rejected him. He went to his ancestor, Seiryuu, for help. The old dragon had his distant descendant sign a contract that would enhance the power of his Ophani blood and help him live for the centuries that we live instead of the decades that the human race has. We were married in the same ceremony that I was made Suzaku and was granted all the powers of a phoenix."

Naruto saw the massive crowd that watched the event and almost laughed when he saw Old Man Hokage sitting next to Tuechi and a blond woman holding a baby. There was also a tall white haired man that seemed to smell or something because no one wanted to sit near him. His jaw was nearly dislocated when the newly appointed Suzaku burst into flames and flew above the crowd. Her husband was smiling proudly, enjoying his wife's moment in the spotlight.

The scene moved to show a similar ceremony taking place in Konohagakure no Sato (Village Hidden in the Leaves) where Minato was wearing the white robes of the Hokage. That's when Naruto felt like slapping himself. Namikaze Minato was the Fourth Hokage! He'd been watching his hero's story and didn't even know it.

"He became Hokage less than a year after I became Suzaku. Our lives grew a lot busier, but we somehow were able to find moments together. Which brings up the last part of this little story, the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

Naruto felt dread at hearing that and wondered what Suzaku had to tell him about his old sensei.

"He attacked when I was giving birth to our firstborn, a little boy. Minato's old teacher Jiraiya had gotten a tip that the fox was going to attack the village. Demons like Kyuubi get stronger by eating live beings, absorbing their powers into themselves. It was possible he was after my phoenix power. The fox would have been unstoppable if he'd succeeded, but Minato and I made a deal with the Angel of Death. The Angel would take Kyuubi to the next life to await his Judgment, and in exchange I would give up one of my phoenix lives.

"Unfortunately, while I was on my way to the site of the exchange, I was attacked by Denning. He wanted the Suzaku title and believed that by killing me he could get it. My flames ate his winds, but he was a skilled warrior and managed to wound me. Then he started to insult Minato and our son, and I lost control."

The sight of a giant gold and crimson bird erupting in flames and an equally huge brown hawk fighting above amazed Naruto and when Suzaku formed a giant Rasengan in one of her taloned feet, he felt a shiver of excitement go up his spine. The hawk sent a small column of spinning wind at Suzaku only to have it burned to nothing with a flap of her massive wings. Suzaku sped through the dying flames and rammed the Rasengan into Denning's brown feathered chest. The explosion sent both flying backwards, Suzaku recovered and spun to face Denning again.

He was already beat, one wing was gone and his chest was ground to paste. His massive body hit the ground and Suzaku proceeded to torch the remains. Once Denning was nothing but ash, she took off tiredly towards where the Kyuubi was attacking.

"As I was flying, my strength failed and I was forced to land at the foot of a mountain near the battle. The Kyuubi was indeed a fierce opponent and might have defeated me even at full strength, but with the Angel taking care of things we didn't have much to worry about. I just needed to get there. Unfortunately, one of the Kyuubi's tails hit the mountain I was resting by and collapsed it on top of me."

Naruto could sense Suzaku's anger when her past self was caught in the debris and trapped under the mountain of rubble.

"Exhausted as I was, I didn't have the strength to escape and without any heat or light it would take a decade or more to heal properly from everything that had happened. Seven years past and I was awakened by your telepathic call when the Kyuubi tried to take control of your body."

She seemed drained after telling the lengthy story, and Naruto started wondering about something. He knew that he wasn't the smartest kid in his class, and that she hadn't told him everything about the night Kyuubi attacked.

"Your son?" His question brought tears to her eyes and he wondered if his guess was wrong.

She turned and looked into his bright blue eyes and with tears in her own whispered, "He called and I answered."

Naruto's eyes grew wide and tears formed in his eyes as well and he couldn't speak though his mouth kept opening and closing. The silent woman just looked away sadly as her son dealt with this newest shock.

"You're my Mom?" Naruto's recovered voice was weak with emotion.

His mother just nodded.

"For reals, no joke, right?"

Another nod.

Naruto's face lit up like the sun and started to dance around _his Mom_, all the while chanting, "I've got a Mom."

He stopped when she kneeled down to wrap him in a tight hug, which he returned full force. HE HAD A MOM!! And his Dad was Yondaime! Naruto's mind was still wrapping itself around this new information when his Mom pulled back. He looked at her confused and more than a little hurt.

She smiled, "We have company."

_Knock, Knock_

Naruto's head swirled when he was abruptly dumped back into reality from his mother's mind. The faint echoes of a door being knocked made his ears hurt for some reason.

"Sorry about that, I forgot that you're new to mental traveling." He gave his Mom what he hoped was a reassuring grin as she went to answer the door. He stayed in his seat trying to stop the room from spinning when he saw

He faintly heard the door open and people enter, but the dizzied ninja in training was caught completely unaware as a brown haired mass tackled/hugged him to the ground. Everything went blurry and he found he couldn't get up because whatever hit him was still on top of him. And whatever it was seemed to be crying. He tried to lift his head and found that to be a bad idea and rolled it on the ground to so his eyes could see what was going on.

He found chocolate brown hair covering his chest. He tried to say something but all that came out was a sickly gargle. The hair moved at the sound and equally brown eyes, wet with tears, met his confused blue.

"Aaaay (gargle) aaaameeee (gargle)?" His Naruto thought that his ramen friend was currently sobbing into his shirt as they lay on the floor, and some part of his frazzled brain thought that odd. The rest was trying to figure out since when Ayame had two sisters identical to her.

Ayame breathlessly rambled into Nauruto's shirt, "Narutoareyouokay? IheardyouwerehurtandHokage-samawouldn'tsayanythingtous-"

"Ayame-chan, you might want to let the poor boy up. I think he might have a concussion from that hit," Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi chuckled at the pair of children lying on the floor.

Ayame blushed in embarrassment and was quick to get off her friend. While she was straightening her clothes her father, a silver haired masked man, and Naruto's Mom came in. Once his mother saw his new position, she was kneeling by his side quick enough to make the non-ninja jump at her speed. She pressed a hand to his head and green chakra surrounded it and went into the boy's aching head.

Naruto didn't know what his Mom was doing, but it just reaffirmed that he had an awesome Mom. That phrase made him so happy for some reason that he just lay there quietly while she fussed over her boy.

"Now that we're all here and of sound mind and body, why don't we start this little meeting. Starting with what happened to Minato," Suzaku said. Standing behind her son with her hands on his shoulders, she locked the Sandaime with her intense eyes.

The Third Hokage Sarutobi had been in this position many times, telling someone that their loved one was never coming home. It never got easier for him, and even at 64 years old he could never find the best words to comfort those left behind. Now, like many times before, all he could do was give a list of events that lead up to the loss.

* * *

_Minato stood panting from the battle with Kyuubi._

_Both Jiraiya and I had to physically restrain him to keep him off the battlefield. _

_For no apparent reason he looked off his right, and after a moment I was sure my successor would cry. _

_I heard him murmur, "She's not going to make it in time."_

_He vanished in a yellow blur using Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God)._

_The last we saw of him was on top of Gamabunta, using the Shiki Fuin (Dead Demon Consuming Seal) to seal Kyuubi away into Naruto.

* * *

_

Naruto looked down as he heard the other side of his parents' story of his first birthday. He felt his Mom's hands tighten into his shoulders during the whole tale and they were really starting to hurt. She let go when she heard his groan of pain.

"Please excuse me a moment," Suzaku said quietly.

Naruto felt helpless as his Mom left the room. He moved to follow when the Hokage stopped him with a wrinkled hand. The boy noticed how tense everyone looked and his brain finally wondered why Teuchi and Ayame were there. When he asked the question, he got a most surprising response.

"Ayame felt Kushina's chakra and I couldn't keep her away. We met Hokage-sama and Hatake-san on the way here," Teuchi said with a small smile.

"Who's Kushina?" Naruto asked, his face scrunching to its middle with his confusion.

The adults laughed and visibly relaxed. The silver haired guy with one eye answered him. "That's your mother's hu . . . that's her name. Uzumaki Kushina of the Whirlpool Country."

Naruto froze for a moment before a face-splitting smile appeared and he began to dance around the kitchen. He even pulled Ayame into it at one point, swinging around the others in a child's happy moment. The Hokage and the other men looked a bit confused at why Naruto spontaneously started to dance.

Teuchi felt the need to ask why. "Naruto-kun, why are you dancing?"

Naruto stopped spinning and the others were taken aback at how brightly his eyes shone with joy. They almost seemed to be glowing. "I finally met another Uzumaki. I thought I was the only one, but now Mom's back and she's an Uzumaki, too!"

The Hokage smiled and ruffled Naruto's hair, making the boy seem to smile wider. Sarutobi felt at peace that this unfortunate boy was getting some well-deserved recompense for the loneliness and pain he had gone through.

"Old Man Hokage-" Naruto began before he was cut off by Ayame.

"Naruto-kun, you shouldn't talk to Hokage-sama like that. You should show more respect," Ayame scolded Naruto kindly. It made the Hokage laugh to see Naruto blush in embarrassment.

"It's quite all right young lady. Naruto-kun has always called me that, and I suspect he always will. Now what did you want to ask Naruto-kun?" The Sandaime's peaceful smile put Naruto at ease. He relaxed and said what was on his mind.

"Is my Dad dead?"

The room went silent and the happy smiles became sad. Sandaime's voice was quiet as he told Naruto more about what happened.

"Naruto-kun, the Shiki Fuin is a forbidden sealing art because it requires a life be given to the Shinigami (Death God) to work. Your father gave his life to seal the Kyuubi away."

Naruto didn't say anything, trying not to cry in front of everyone. He kept his head down, and he was surprised when he felt himself drawn into a hug. Since Ayame was the only one her close to his size, he figured it was her.

"Naruto-kun, you're not alone. You have your mom and others. The Yondaime wasn't alone either. He had an older sister, Namikaze Safaia. She was my mother Naruto."

Her words took some time to penetrate his sad mind, but the time delay was made up for with impact. Naruto looked at Ayame and froze. Seconds ticked by.

"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" Her compassion laced her voice but still the boy remained as he was, just staring at her.

He didn't even flinch when two cold fingers touched his neck, looking for a pulse.

Kakashi grinned under his mask. "I think you broke him."

* * *

A/N: Dang! That took a long time to do. I had most of it done and then Naruto's parents got names! I had to revamp my outline and that took awhile, and then my beta took some time to get back to me on corrections. I hope the next chapter doesn't take as long to write.

Don't worry if all answers haven't been given. I'll answer indivual concerns when asked when they don't spoil the story.

Please review and let me know what you think and what I can improve upon.

Thank you for reading.


	3. Observations and Obstacles

**The Winged Fox**

Chapter Three: Observations and Obstacles

"And this one was taken when Naruto-kun was learning to crawl," Teuchi chuckled at how red Naruto's face was becoming with all the cute and embarrassing baby pictures the older man had brought with him to his sister-in-law's home. After Kushina had been allowed to grieve in private and Naruto had recovered from the shock that had been building, the ramen chef revealed the photo album of Naruto's baby pictures.

The picture they were currently looking at showed an infant Naruto starring wide-eyed at the camera with his naked hind-end sticking up in the air. Kushina beamed at each and every picture she saw of her son growing up, while he was trying fervently to keep his blushing down to a dim glow.

Naruto laughed at the next picture, which at first glance looked like a man with white hair standing by a table with a baby laying on it. He quickly realized the man was covered in something white and was trying to keep from getting peed on by the baby. Looking around, he saw that everyone else was also laughing, except for the masked one-eyed man who looked embarrassed for some reason.

"Some thing wrong, masked ninja-san?" asked Naruto.

The laughing in the room intensified at the nickname and Naruto looked on in confusion. "What's so funny?" This innocent question of course nearly had nearly everyone except the masked ninja into further hysterics. Ayame was gasping for breathe on the ground while holding her sides.

Kushina took pity on the masked ninja and after taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, said to her son, "Naruto-kun, this is Hatake Kakashi, and he is the man in the picture. Apparently he didn't . . . he didn't have the best of luck with taking care of you as a baby."

"I never took care of children before, and given _my childhood_ I think I did as best as could be expected," Kakashi said drawing himself up indignantly.

Teuchi chuckled, "That may be Kakashi-san, but most people don't need the Sharingan to learn how to change a diaper."

Kakashi was very grateful for his mask, since it was the only thing keeping his blush from being seen. Kushina looked at the man curiously, "You needed the Sharingan to change Naruto's diaper?"

Kakashi sighed, "Yes Kushina-sama, I did. The first time I tried without the Sharingan . . . was unpleasant."

"Oh, you mean when you slipped in the pee puddle and the contents of the dirty diaper got all over your hands? And was that before or after the baby powder exploded all over you?" Teuchi teased the younger man. Ayame, who'd just been able to get off the ground, fell over in the throes of laughter once again.

"Yes Teuchi-san, that time," Kakashi grated out. His posture was rigid and his visible black eye had narrowed. "And the baby powder exploded _before _that all happened."

Teuchi looked unfazed by the silver-haired man's unspoken threat. "Well you always did need Safaia's help with taking care of Naruto-kun."

Naruto looked back and forth between Teuchi and Kakashi. "You took care of me?"

All the anger drained out him at the question, "Yeah, but I was young and had no idea what I was doing. I needed Safaia-sensei's help so much that the popular gossip was that she was cheating on Teuchi-san with me."

"Cheating? Like on a test?" Naruto know that the teachers at the academy didn't like it when kids were caught cheating on the tests given at the academy.

Kushina glared a bit at Kakashi and turned to her son with a stern look, "Yes Naruto-kun, a very important test that I'll you about later . . . much later."

Naruto shrugged and turned to Ayame to ask her something, only to find his friend looking very sad. Not liking the sadness he sensed in her, Naruto spoke quietly, "You ok Ayame-neechan?"

She looked surprised at his question and quickly her smile was in place, but Naruto could see this wasn't her usual cheerful smile. "I'm fine Naruto-kun, just thinking." She could see that he wasn't convinced and let out a sigh. "I was thinking about my mom."

"What happened to Safaia, if I may ask?" broke in Kushina as politely as she could.

Ayame looked sad again and Kushina quickly enveloped her into a hug. The girl clung to the woman, silently sobbing into her shoulder. Kushina rubbed her hair and made comforting sounds to her niece. Naruto looked on in confusion, and looked to the older men for guidance.

Teuchi was covering his eyes with his hand, and Old Man Hokage knelt by the boy and whispered quietly, "Safaia passed away due to a disease five years ago. Teuchi was and is hurting incredibly because of that loss. That is why you weren't raised by him and Ayame-chan. They were both barely able to care for themselves, let alone a small child."

Silently the boy watched two of the most important people in his life cry in painful remembrance of the aunt he never got to know. There had to be something he could do to help them, but what could he do? They were the ones to usually help cheer _him_ up when he was sad. Teuchi and Ayame were always there with tasty ramen and their kind smiles, never asking for anything from him . . . THAT'S IT! There was something Ayame always asked Naruto about- ninja training! And with the Fox showing his true nature . . .

Sarutobi, known as the Professor for having mastered every jutsu in Konoha that one could learn without a bloodline, looked worried by the happy light that was now shining in Naruto's eyes. When the boy turned to say something, Sarutobi stopped him and quietly asked, "What is it, Naruto-kun?"

The grin on Naruto's face grew conspiratorial, which deepened the old man's worries, and whispered back, "I'm gonna ask Ayame-neechan if she wanted to train with me."

The aged Hokage looked thoughtfully at the crying girl and saw Kushina nodding slowly in approval of her son's plan. She then began preparing the young lady for a more enthusiastic form of consolation. Knowing it was pointless wondering how Kushina heard them, Sarutobi nodded to Naruto, whose smile grew wider. Sarutobi couldn't stop the pang in his heart at that smile, which looked so much like Minato's carefree grin Sarutobi expected to see Naruto disappear in a yellow blur.

Said blond only scampered quickly over to his best friend and tapped her shoulder. After whispering in her ear, he once again found himself on the floor in an Ayame Tackle/Glomp. Sarutobi chuckled at the sight and was glad to see the sad moment had passed, as even Teuchi was brought out of his pain by the sight of his daughter laying out his nephew with that tackle.

After Kushina fixed Naruto's concussion again, the two younger members ran off with the promise to be back before dinner. Teuchi looked at Kushina, "Didn't you use to have long red hair?"

She smiled and her hair grew longer and shifted colors to how it looked seven years ago. "My mastery of the Polymorph technique means that, unlike most women, I can do just about anything with my looks that I want. Honestly, I can't remember what my original hair color was, since I changed it every other day during my training. Drove my parents nuts."

All three men had sweatdrops behind their heads at this admission.

* * *

"So what are we going to start with Naruto-sensei?" Ayame giggled at the blush her cousin got at the honorific. 

"Um, how about we start some physical exercises? That's how I got started," said the newly dubbed teacher. He wasn't used to this kind of attention, though they started off with Naruto's basic routine of running, push-ups, and various other exercises.

After a while Naruto noticed that he was getting tired, even though he'd shortened his run and lowered everything so Ayame wouldn't be overwhelmed. She was panting as much as he was, but he knew he should be able to do more than this. Looking at his "student" he straightened and asked her to wait there for a second.

Finding the closest tree, he tried to run up its trunk with chakra, but couldn't even get up a single step. "WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH ME?!"

"Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked timidly. "What're you trying to do?"

Naruto picked himself off the ground and growled in anger, "I was trying to climb this tree with chakra, something I've done a thousand times, except now I couldn't even go one $&$& step!"

Blushing at her cousin's use of profanity, Ayame looked even more shocked at what he was trying to do, and that it was supposed to be easy for him. "Do you know what's wrong?"

Naruto looked at Ayame and saw how scared she was, "Sorry about that Ayame-neechan, guess I got a bit angry at myself. I've been doing this for about a year and it's natural to me now. This time it felt like I was starting all over again! My chakra feels all messed up."

"Should we go see Hokage-sama? He might be able to help," said Ayame.

Naruto looked at his hands and made the seal that helped the most with focusing chakra- the ram seal. Extending the pointer and middle fingers of both his hands he interlocked his hands with his left on top. Turning his attention to his chakra center, he focused his chakra so it would go through his entire body.

_PAIN!_

_FIRE AND ICE!_

_PAIN EVERYWHERE!_

_HIS HAND! _

_MakeitstopMakeitstopMakeitstopMakeitstopMakeitstopMakeitstopMAKEITSTOP!_

"**AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!**" Naruto cried in torment, clutching his right hand to his chest. He didn't even register hitting the ground, all that mattered was the pain starting from his hand and spreading everywhere, that terrible burning of fire and ice. That hand was his whole world right then, even Ayame's fear-full cries didn't get through.

Only when she tried to look at his hand did he realize she was there. The fear and pain in his eyes couldn't withstand the simple compassion in hers, and Naruto was finally able to calm down.

"Let's go see Hokage-sama, all right?" she asked. Naruto nodded and with her help got off the ground. Feeling how weak his body felt, they agreed to walk slowly.

* * *

"So you can't use hand-signs without feeling pain?" Sarutobi frowned as he processed this information. "Kushina, any ideas how this happened?" 

The red-head paled and looked at Naruto with worry clear on her face. "Before I sealed James completely away, he managed to send a needle of yokai at Naruto. It was aimed for his head but Naruto managed to block it with his hand. I hoped his shinsei would be able to purge what there was of it. It seems I was mistaken."

Naruto and Ayame looked a bit lost. "Uh kaa-san, what's yukai and shinsen?"

Kushina sighed, "That's _yo_-kai and shin-_sei, _Naruto-kun. Those are the names we use for the energies used by demons and Opani, respectively."

Naruto again looked confused, "Why would we respect demons? They're bad, aren't they?"

"I just mean the yokai is demon energy and shinsei is Opani energy."

"Oh."

Ayame looked to her aunt, "So how do we help Naruto-kun?"

The older woman looked at her son's hand intensely. After turning it over and studying it from a variety of angles she called for Kakashi. He came over and Kushina asked him to use his Sharingan. He nodded and said, "Of course, Kushina-sama."

He pulled up his hitai ate (forehead protector) to reveal a red eye with three black commas in it. He looked intently at Naruto's hand and made several non-committal sounds before pulling his hitai ate down. "There's blue, red, and green chakra in his hand, though I can't be more specific than that."

Kushina looked tense for a moment before smiling. "We'll go see an old friend of mine. Sarutobi-kun, how're Hiashi-kun and Takibi-chan these days?"

The wrinkled Hokage looked at the younger looking woman with a twinkle in his eye, "Takibi recently took ill, but otherwise I believe them to be well. Hiashi is now clan head, though he is a bit colder now since Minato and Hizashi's deaths."

Kushina gasped, "Hizashi died?! When, no how did that happen?"

"About four years ago, on the third birthday of Hiashi's oldest daughter, the young girl was taken and her kidnapper killed by Hiashi. It turned out to be a Cloud ninja who was here to sign a peace treaty with us. It caused relations with Kumogakure to sour and to prevent war they demanded the body of Hiashi. To save his twin brother, Hizashi volunteered to take his place, against Hiashi's wishes."

Kushina could only gape in shock. After a moment she collected herself and grabbed Kakashi by the arm, "Come along Naruto. We're going to visit the Hyuuga compound." The look on her face prompted Sarutobi and the Ichiraku to wish her well and give whatever excuse they could to get away from the determined woman.

As they approached the gate for the Hyuuga compound, Naruto plucked up the courage to ask a question, "Hey Kakahsi-niichan, what's that weird red eye you got?"

Taken aback by the question, Kakashi defended his "weird eye." "This is the Sharingan, a powerful kekkei genkai (bloodline limit) that lets me see chakra as well as copy any jutsu I see."

"That's cool Kakashi-niisan! How many jutsus have you copied?" asked the excited ball of energy.

Kakashi looked quite proud at the attention, "Almost a thousand jutsus, Naruto-kun, and if you want, I would be happy to help you learn a few."

"That'd be awesome Kakashi-niisan! Hey could I get a cool Shar-whatsit like you?"

At this Kakashi smiled sadly, "I don't think you'd want to Naruto-kun. You see, this eye cost me my best friend's life." Naruto was stunned into silence by this. "So you see Naruto-kun, I think you'd be better off learning the old fashion way."

"All right Kakashi-niisan! I'm going to learn as much as I can to help me be the greatest Hokage ever!"

Kakashi chuckled, "I'm sure you will be, Naruto-kun, and I'll help however I can." Both missed the smile on Kushina's face at their conversation.

"So Mom, why are we going to these Hyuugas?" Naruto asked with his scrunched face. With his eyes closed like that, Kushina wondered how he could see.

"The Sharingan that Kakashi has is kekkei genkai unique to the Uchiha clan, while the Hyuuga clan has the Byakugan. It is a doujutsu (eye technique) with the ability to see chakra, but its range and depth are greater than that of the Sharingan. Though it can't copy jutsu like the Sharingan can, the Byakugan can see through walls and even allows those who possess it to see the chakra system inside other people. That is why we are visiting the Hyuugas."

"Okay." Naruto looked confused and tried to digest all this new information as they arrived. He guessed they were going to take a good look at his hand and see why it hurt to focus chakra.

Soon they had arrived at the gate and were stopped by two ninjas with white eyes and no pupils. Naruto knew this had to be the Byakugan because that was the only way two guys could have the same weird-looking eyes. Maybe it was a good thing he didn't have a doujutsu like them, he didn't need weird eyes on top of all his other problems.

"Halt. Please state your name and business." The command was cold and arrogant.

Kushina smiled pleasantly, "My name is Uzumaki Kushina. Please tell Hiashi-san that I would like to speak with him as soon as possible."

The two guards seemed unimpressed but one of them turned towards the gate and sent a messenger to give the Hyuuga clan head his message. As they waited Kushina's smile became more and more strained. Her foot started to tap impatiently as the minutes ticked by. Finally, after five long minutes had passed, she smiled at the guards again and asked in a falsely pleasant voice, "What is taking so long? It shouldn't take this long to deliver a message"

As the guard opened his mouth to respond, he felt a pressure in his mind. It was light at first, like a giant hand lightly holding his head. Soon it moved from mildly annoying to where it was all he could do to keep from crying in pain. He knew the woman was doing it, but he had no idea how she was doing it. It hurt worse than when the main branch used the caged bird seal.

Fortunately for the guard, he was saved by the timely arrival of Hyuuga Hiashi. "Kushina-san could you please stop tormenting my guards? I know you hate to wait, but this is a bit excessive." The guards breathed a relieved sigh now that the pressure was gone. "If you would please follow me?" Hiashi asked politely.

"Good to see that your manners are still intact, Hiashi-kun," whispered Kushina so only he heard her. He was just barely able to fight the embarrassed blush at her familiar address.

As a proper host, Hiashi lead them quietly to a sitting room where he ordered for some food and drink to be brought to his guests. Once it had been delivered, he asked what they wanted.

"I would like you to inspect my son's chakra system to see if there are any problems," said Kushina calmly.

Hiashi arched an eyebrow at the woman across from him and turned to Naruto. "Hold still child," said Hiashi. The veins around his eyes bulged and Naruto could feel the intense gaze the man had. It felt like he was staring right through him. Then Hiashi snapped his eyes shut, like there was a bright light, and his veins shrunk to their normal size.

"Well, what did you see?" asked Naruto's fretful mother.

Hiashi slowly opened his eyes and stared at the boy again, without his kekkei genkai activated. "His chakra system is chaotic. I saw blue, green, and red chakra present within him, and I am certain that it was his own chakra and not from an outside source. They were all fighting one another for dominance."

Kushina knew what this meant and didn't like it at all. "What about his right hand? Did you see anything unusual there?"

Hiashi took on a thoughtful expression, "Yes I saw his hand and there is a shard of condensed red chakra caught in it. There were also smaller pieces, like dust, breaking off from it." He raised both eyebrows at Kushina, "I assume there is quite the tale that would explain why your son has three chakra types as well as an almost solid shard of the most virulent chakra I have ever seen. Would you be willing to tell me this tale?"

Kakashi and Naruto looked to Kushina. She was holding her chin and studying Hiashi intently. "Bring Takibi-chan here and I'll tell you both."

Hiashi straightened and his jaw clenched. "Unfortunately, my wife is ill and unable to be present with others."

"Then let me see her. As you might remember, I know a thing a two about healing," Kushina said.

Hiashi nodded and gracefully rose to his feet. "Follow me please." As Naruto began to get up, Hiashi help up a hand to stop him. "Only Kushina-san may come."

Naruto began to protest, but Kushina silenced him with a stern look. He crossed his arms and pouted. Once they were gone he tried to follow, but Kakashi grabbed the back of his shirt to stop him.

"It's best if we wait here. Have a cookie."

* * *

Hiashi and Kushina walked quietly to a room deep in the compound. Hiashi knocked sharply three times, and Kushina heard a faint "Come in" from the other side which worried her. The Takibi she remembered was much more energetic, even during their pregnancies the woman was cheerful. 

Entering the room Kushina could see just how sick her friend was. Her usually pale skin was almost pure white, and the smile that was normally affixed to her face was gone. Takibi looked tired, and Kushina rushed to her side and grasped a hand in both of hers. Kushina wasted no time checking for the cause of the woman's sickness. Shinsei surrounded her hands as she delved deep into the body of her patient.

Hyuuga Takibi opened her grey Byakugan-free eyes and saw a ghost of her past. "Kushina, where you been? I'm winning with two daughters to your one son." Her voice cracked and showed how tired she was.

Kushina grinned at her competitive friend, "Well I figured I'd give you a handicap seeing as how your husband is a block of ice compared to mine."

Takibi arched an eyebrow and chuckled, "No offense Kushina, but I kinda doubt that, considering . . ."

Kushina's grin became forced at remembering what she had only learned that day. She breathed deeply and pulled her hands back. "Well, your body seems to have been weakened by a toxin. How long have you been sick like this?"

Takibi accepted the change of topic with a nod and replied, "About a year."

Hiashi during all this was doing his best to maintain his stony visage, though inside he was happy to have the Uzumaki woman's help. He knew she was of the bird clans of the Ophani, making her a distant relative of the Hyuuga Clan, but he didn't know her standing or true strength.

The Byakugan itself came from one on the Owl clan who married a human over a century ago, and his honorable ancestor used his power to made sure that his kekkei genkai lasted by making it an overly dominant trait, overpowering any other genes so inbreeding was unnecessary.

He knew well that the Ophani had power and that was the only reason he treated the woman with such respect. After seven years the new guards didn't know her impatient nature, which would change quickly after the current guards spread the word of her "Mind Squeeze." Applying psychic pressure was one of Kushina's most used methods of dealing with people problems. He only hoped she could solve this problem before he lost one of his reasons for living. If that were to happen he knew his heart would become as stony as his expression.

He could see that Kushina wasn't at full strength, and that she was still recovering from whatever had kept her from her son. Normally she would have healed Takibi before saying what was wrong with her, and it was obvious to his Hyuuga trained eyes that she was still in mourning because of her husband's death. If he had to guess he'd say she'd been unconscious for the last seven years, so the news of Minato's death was truly new to her.

He kept his face impassive as he saw that her strain became more apparent as she tried to remove the poison, which was another indication that she wasn't at full capacity as she used to "burn" poisons out with a greater portion of chakra. She deposited a small handful of red material onto a napkin on the bedside desk. "The village medics should be able to make an antidote for what's left in your system."

"You okay Kushina? You looked tired," said Takibi.

"Well, I'm doing well for being . . . I'll tell you later, when we don't have company," said Kushina. She turned and looked at the closet.

Hiashi moved quickly and, with Byakugan activated, opened the door and gently pulled out a young girl with blue hair and lavender eyes that proved her a Hyuuga with their absence of pupils. It was easy to see that he was not happy. "Hinata, why were you hiding in our closet? You were supposed to be training in the Juuken (Gentle Fist)."

Hinata blushed and hung her head, "I-I-I j-j-j-ust wanted to see M-M-M-other, F-F-Father."

Takibi motioned for Hiashi to bring their daughter. "I had her hide in there, and kinda forgot about her when I saw Kushina." She hugged Hinata and looked at Kushina. "Kushina this is Hinata-chan, my oldest daughter."

Kushina smiled at the cute little girl, "Hello, I'm an old friend of your mom's."

"Old is right," muttered Takibi.

"Quiet you," returned Kushina. "I look great for my age, AND without any Genjutsu." The two women giggled at their private joke, and somewhere a blond gambler sneezed.

Takibi's eyes lit up and sent a conspiratorial wink at her friend, "You brought your son, didn't you? He's about Hinata's age."

Kushina smiled, "He's out with Kakashi, waiting for me to come back."

"Well then, how about we send Hinata out to say hello?"

"I think that's a great idea."

Takibi looked at her husband with a tired but cheery smile. After staring at her for a moment he silently took their daughter to meet their guests. "Make sure I have returned before starting you story, Kushina-san. I do not wish to miss it."

The women watched him leave, and once she was sure he was out of earshot, Kushina doubled over in laughter. "Ha ha ha, hee hee he's still the same stick in the mud I remember. Does he ever speak anything less than proper?"

Takibi grinned, "He has his moments. He just holds them in reserve for me."

"And hopefully your daughters. Hinata looked like she thought he was going to eat her or something."

Takibi sighed, "Well since his usual ways of dealing with stress are gone he tends to use sparing with Hinata to vent. Her confidence doesn't last long under his scrutiny."

"Too true. His genin wanted to be chunnin so fast so they could get away from his 'training sessions," Kushina laughed softly. "How're those knuckleheads doing anyway?"

"All married and with kids Hinata and Naruto's age."

"They change at all in seven years?"

"Not much, though Inoichi seems to be better with women, since his _daughter_ is turning into quite the little kunoichi."

They chatted about familiar people until Hiashi returned and Kushina gave a full account of what happened. She trusted them both to be discreet not that either tended to blab. After she was finished she made a little proposal to them and they readily agreed.

Kushina looked at Naruto as they walked home. He and Hinata seemed to get along, though he did almost all of the talking. That timid girl will need some help, and Kushina knew she could give it. Now though, her son needed help, and Kushina needed more information to give it. "Naruto-kun, when we get home I need to check your memories to see how James messed with your chakra."

"Um kaa-chan, who's James? I think you said his name before, but I got distracted with all the talk about different chakras," asked Naruto.

"Oh, I guess most people don't know his real name these days. James is the birth name of the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

"Kyuubi's name is _James?!"_ Naruto began laughing loudly at the very unusual name. "What kind of name is James?"

"Much more common among Ophani, where people would probably laugh at the name 'Swirling Maelstrom' just as much," Kushina chided her son. "Different cultures are that Naruto- different. Names, customs, language- they all differ between people here and other parts of the world."

Kakashi looked interested in this, "Kushina-sama, you've been to the other parts of our world?"

Kushina smiled, "Oh yes. The Islanders far south of here are quite different from the Elemental Countries, but no less powerful in their own way. They respect size and strength. The Akimichis would fit right in with them."

Kakashi's eye widened in surprise, "That big huh?"

"Yep, and the feasts are a sight to behold. You haven't partied till you've done it their way."

They arrived home at this point and Kushina immediately took Naruto and asked him if it was alright for her to check his memories. He agreed and she put her forehead to his. A few minutes later, she pulled back and choked back a sob. How much had he truly suffered the day he freed her? And before that as well?

"The telepathic link he created when he started teaching you. He used the two chakra strands to file the bars down to let more of his chakra out. This chakra was used to alter your body to produce yokai on your own. Looks like James was slowly working his way to make your body ready for him to take over. A few more years and he might have worked out the problems you're facing.

"Naruto-kun, your body is now producing three energy types on its own. First is your human chakra, which you're used to using. Second is the Ophani energy shinsei you inherited from me, and we'll see if you can access it later. Last is the demon energy yokai that you are making yourself. Right now, you and I are going to take a closer look at the mixing point to see if there are any clues to what's happening to you."

Kakashi coughed softly, "May I come as well, Kushina-sama? It's quite boring just standing here while you and Naruto-kun are in the trance."

Kushina looked to Naruto, "What do you think? You OK with him coming?"

The response was a shrug and, "OK with me."

"Oh and Naruto, this time don't try pushing the production of chakra while Kakashi and I are there, or you might fry us."

"OK kaa-san," he gulped.

Putting a hand to the heads of the others, Kushina closed her eyes and concentrated, and they were quickly looking at a storm of blues, reds, and greens. The three looked at the swirling energies and only Kushina could find the words to describe the scene in front of them.

"What a mess."

Naruto looked around, "Didn't look like this the last time I was here. Then it was just the blue."

Kakashi tried using his Sharingan, but quickly covered it again as it was too much to follow. Reminded him of the week the Hokage had him substitute at the Academy, and someone gave the kids soldier pills. Kakashi shuddered at the memory of that horrendous experience.

They didn't move much, just stood there studying the energies until Kushina nodded and said, "Alright, I think I know what's happened. Let's go back, as it's a bit dangerous here."

In a heartbeat all three were back in the house and Kakashi and Naruto waited eagerly, though with Kakashi it was much harder to see than Naruto. Kushina was clenching her fists in anger, and she looked at her whiskered son. Numerous thoughts collided in her mind-how would he take it, how can I help him with this, etc. "Naruto-kun, I have some bad news. James did in fact alter your body and the yokai we saw there was your own. It doesn't have the evil feel that his has, but it felt enough like his that I can guess he modeled your demonic side after his own."

Naruto paled and trembled, "Y-you mean I'm a demon now?"

"Only in part, your human and Ophani sides hold the demonic part back, so you're more of a mix than any one kind. Your yokai and shinsei are not reacting well together, that's why you got so tired. Most of your chakra is being used to buffer the other energies-"

"Butter?" Take a wild guess who asked that.

Kushina let out an exasperated breathe, "I mean that in keeping your yokai and shinsei apart, your available chakra supply is much smaller than before. I believe James used his yokai as the buffer before. This would also explain why your chakra control is gone."

"Well that's just great! I work for years to get decent chakra control and that #$ fox messes it up!" Naruto ranted and stomped around the room. Kushina frowned at him and Naruto felt a slap on the back of his head. Looking around and seeing no one around him, he turned to his mother and Kakashi, "What was that!? Felt like somebody slapped me!"

"Yes Naruto-kun, and I'll do it again if I ever hear that kind of language again. Do you understand me?" Her eyes had a dangerous glint to them Naruto recognized and quickly nodded. The glint vanished and a genuine smile took it place. "Good, and you're right to be angry, just use better words next time, okay Naruto-chan?"

Naruto's mind was spinning at the reversals of attitude his mom was showing. Finally he just shrugged and put it under "things moms do" and tried to figure out what was so bad about certain words.

Kushina sighed as she could guess what was going through her son's head, and made a mental note to talk to him about manners later. James wasn't the best role model for a growing boy, or any one other than a homicidal maniac. She shook her head and reminded herself that Naruto needed help with his more pressing problem. "Naruto-kun, it is possible for you to organize your energies, but it will take some time to do. In the meantime, I think it would be best if you trained with Ayame-chan and your big brother here to work around the fact that you can't use hand signs effectively."

Kakashi had been nodding in agreement until his mind realized that Kushina had gestured to him when referring to Naruto's "big brother." His visible eyebrow rose in confusion. Kushina wasn't the sort to give a title like that without cause. "Big brother, Kushina-sama?"

She looked surprised, "You mean Sarutobi never gave you the papers to sign?"

"Papers for what?"

"Why your adoption by Minato and me of course! You were always over here, using the spare guest room. We thought we'd just have you move in," Kushina needed to stop, she could feel the strain on her body from pulling the poison out of Takibi. It was worth it though, Takibi was her friend, dagnabbit, and she wasn't about to let a friend die. "We can deal with that later. Right now I need food and you two need to talk about your training together with Ayame-chan."

Kakashi blinked, "Ayame?"

"Well, you're not going to get her hopes up with the promise of training and not go through with it _are you_?!"

"Alright, alright. Don't need to get angry. Come on Naruto-kun, lets go make some okonomiyaki for dinner."

"What's okonomiyaki?" asked the puzzled youngster.

"You mix together stuff you like and fry it," Kakashi drawled lazily.

"Like ramen?" asked Naruto with excitement.

"Sure Naruto-kun, we can throw in some ramen stuff if you want to."

Kakashi lead his newly acknowledged little brother to begin their training together, starting with the finer points of creating okonomiyaki.

* * *

**Glossary**

Suffixes:

-nee-(suffix): sister, can be used for females of close age even if they're not actually siblings

-nii-(suffix): brother in same sense as above

-kaa-(suffix): mother

-sama: very respectful suffix for people of higher class or station

-san: neutral suffix that can be used in just about any instance where politeness is required, save when dealing with one of clearly higher class than use –sama

-chan: affectionate/familiar term used generally for girls, but can also be used for little boys

-kun: used for boys in an affectionate/familiar sense, generally for those younger than yourself

Terms:

hitai ate: forehead protector, a metal plate generally worn on the forehead connected to a cloth headband

Kekkei genkai: bloodline limit, a trait passed genetically that enhances a person's natural abilities in some manner (sight, smell, healing, etc.)

Doujutsu: eye technique, a skill involving the eyes (seeing internal chakra flow, copying anything you see, hypnotism, etc)

Hi all! Sorry its been so long, but with school and my many mood changes in regards to the story it took me awhile to get this done. Things will move a bit faster once training starts up. Thank you all for reading and please review and let me know your comments, opinions, gripes, jokes, gossip, questions, and/or suggestions.


	4. Training and Rivals

Naruto is not owned by me.

**The Winged Fox**

Chapter 4: Training and Rivals

_Six months later_

Naruto did his best to be one with the tree. Right now Kakashi was closing in and Ayame was nowhere to be found. He didn't want their last training session together to end early, but his big brother had really upped the stakes by using his Sharingan from the beginning.

Naruto felt a feminine hand close his mouth from making sound. He jumped a bit, but quickly relaxed as he recognized his cousin. Ayame had gotten better at her stealth under Kakashi's training making it almost impossible for Naruto to sense her, though his senses had gotten worse since James wasn't helping anymore.

His Kaachan said it would take time to get back to where he was, but it was entirely possible for him to go beyond the level he had before. His meager chakra control had grown at a snail's pace, and the tiring work was agonizingly slow for the extremely impatient kid.

Ayame looked to her right and Naruto grinned under her hand and nodded. They leaped quietly from tree to tree getting as much distance between themselves and their sensei as possible. He noticed Ayame glance over her shoulder in alarm right before a small brown and blue cannonball, which he recognized as one of Kakashi's dog summons, stole the breath from his lungs with a hit to the stomach.

Ayame spun and threw a kunai behind her, only to have Kakashi deflect it with one of his own. She pulled out another kunai in a defensive position and positioned herself. Kakashi veered off as Pakkun was thrown back by Naruto. The small dog summon didn't look happy as smoke signaled his disappearance from the battlefield.

Ayame took advantage of the distraction and sped away with Naruto right behind her, throwing shuriken at Kakashi with little effect. The two raced at their top speeds, but Kakashi was quickly closing the gap.

Ayame threw a shuriken at a string to her left as they blew past a clearing, unleashing a hail of stones at Kakashi, who used Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substitution Technique) to escape, destroying a rotted tree trunk in the process. Ayame kept her senses open trying in vain to sense their adversary. Naruto tried to do the same, but he felt like a blind child next to Ayame these days.

The uneasy silence ended explosively as two hands reached up and pulled Naruto into the ground, with only his head remaining above ground. The boy snarled and struggled to get free.

"Naruto-kun!" yelled Ayame in shock as she jumped away as Kakashi threw several kunai to keep her away from her teammate. '_Divide and conquer.' _She recognized his tactics, but she also saw that without Naruto a direct fight was beyond impossible. '_Doesn't mean I'm just going to keel over and give up, though,' _Ayame thought with a primal grin.

Arming herself with a handful of shuriken and a kunai, she charged her sensei. The shuriken did little more than cause him to move his arm to deflect them and his kunai caused sparks to fly as it met hers. Ayame was pushed back by Kakashi's greater strength and was able to turn her landing into a backwards somersault to regain her footing.

Kakashi grinned as he saw his eldest student try to escape. She threw down a smoke bomb to cover her next move. Kakashi pulled a kunai out and held it defensively, waiting for whatever trick Ayame might try. As the smoke began to dissipate, Naruto's smaller form jumped from the cloud and slashed viciously at the older man.

His strike was easily blocked, but it served its purpose as Kakashi felt the chakra spike and heard the wet slurping pop as Ayame freed herself from the underground prison Naruto had been caught in. Naruto got a snap kick to the gut as Kakashi spun and deflected Ayame's thrown kunai then parried the thrusting dagger in her left hand.

The Kunoichi in training used Kakashi's kunai to push off and threw three shuriken at her teacher. He dodged and met Naruto in the air. Kakashi used his superior reach to grab Naruto and ignored the few stinging shots to his ribs before planting the boy face first into the forest soil.

Ayame shouted, "Naruto!" Kakashi landed on top of the fallen blond and put his kunai at the back of Naruto's neck and turned to Ayame.

"Surrender?" he asked lazily.

The young woman fumed at his lax demeanor. A quick series of hand signs were all she needed to prepare an attack. "We're not giving up so easily! Suiton: Mizubashira no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Waterspout Technique)

A small stream of fast moving water shot from Ayame's mouth straight for Kakashi's chest. He jumped off Naruto and the youngest combatant was back on his feet in an instant.

Seeking to redeem himself, Naruto tried to slide tackle Kakashi to disrupt his landing. The move was partially successful as Kakashi did need to twist his body to compensate for Naruto's attack on his legs, but the jounin performed a handstand to put some distance between him and his students.

Ayame wasn't letting up though, "Suiton: Mizubashira no Jutsu!"

Another stream of water hit Kakashi in the side as he was landing. He grunted as the air was forced from his body. Ayame and Naruto looked tensely on for a moment before cheering and doing a happy dance together. Kakashi looked on in amusement. He felt a swell of pride at how far his students had come in six months.

Now all he had to do was report to the Hokage and he could pay off the lunch he now owed them.

* * *

"Kakashi! How's teaching treating you? Ready for a team of your own?" cheerfully inquired the aged Sandaime Hokage.

"Better than I expected. I'm ready to give my report on their training, Hokage-sama, and I'll take any team who can pass my test."

Sarutobi leaned back and stared at the young man. "Finished already? I thought you were going be teaching them for a full year."

"Yeah, they surprised me too. They've both worked very hard and will need more experience before reaching a higher level. The Academy for Naruto and a newly graduated Genin team for Ayame should work."

"A genin team? That's no small jump Kakashi. Are you sure that you're not biased? Can she handle being a ninja?"

The young man squared his shoulders and looked the Hokage steadily in the eye. "Teamwork was their biggest strength from day one- both looked after one other. Ayame helped Naruto focus on the task at hand and he helped her push her physical limits. That's why they finished their training so much earlier than expected. What they both need is work with others in different situations. And Ayame is as ready for ninja life as any kid her age."

The elder ninja chuckled at Kakashi's impassioned tone. "Seems they lit a fire in you as well, Kakashi-kun." Kakashi's slight blush at his unusual behavior was covered by his usual mask. He coughed and began his report in his normal professional style.

"Naruto's recovered a bit of his former chakra control. It regresses faster than most people's, but his chakra capacity is growing to match it. Kushina-sama is working with him on controlling his other chakras. His ninjutsu and genjutsu are none existent, but in taijutsu he's at least genin level. He's trap-making skills are above average, but he is impatient and springs them too soon.

"By the time he finishes the Academy he should have enough rounding to be a decent ninja. My recommendation is that he enter with the children his own age. I know they've already started, but Naruto should fit in just fine. Kushina-sama also wants this to help him make more friends.

"Ayame has been practicing and reading up on ninja subjects, but lacked any real practical experience. She has pushed herself just as hard as Naruto and I figure her to be at the same level as most graduating academy students. She can do all three of the Academy jutsus and her basic skills are all adequate. She's even learned a genin level suiton jutsu. I recommend her being placed with the next graduating class. She has great leadership potential."

Sarutobi listened intently and nodded with satisfaction. He had used his crystal ball to check in on the young pair from time to time, and he knew Kakashi wasn't exaggerating their status. He did worry about Naruto if Ayame wasn't there to keep his impulsive side in check. He'd progressed due to her guiding and calming influence.

Hopefully the young blond wouldn't wreak too much havoc upon the Academy instructors.

"Now if I can get my pay for this mission, I have two former students to feed."

Sarutobi chuckled and tossed an envelope to Kakashi. "Pay equivalent to an Academy Instructor's for the last six months." Kakashi nodded and turned for the door. "One last thing, how does it feel to be part of a family again?"

The Hokage could sense the surprise in his ninja, but the elite recovered quickly and smiled at his leader. "It feels good, Hokage-sama."

* * *

Naruto took a step forward, his arms spread out and with hands limp. He practiced the taijutsu forms his mom gave him every day, but she still spotted numerous mistakes in his jerky movements. Her praise was sparse, and Naruto worked himself hard to learn this bird style fighting his mother's clan used.

An added bonus he found he could feel his shinsei more when he got those forms right. He enjoyed using his shinsei a lot more than using his yokai. Yokai didn't feel bad or anything, but it made him think of James quite a bit. Just the thought of his old teacher made the boy's stomach twist. He took a deep breath.

Steady breaths. Sure steps. Strong sweeps and quick jabs.

Naruto went through the mantra many times as he practiced.

Everyday his movements became less jerky and resembled a hawk more than a drunken seagull. Kushina looked on from the door of the training room, nodding in approval. Her heart still ached for missing so much of her son's life, so she tried to be there for him no matter the cost to herself.

She'd taken up her old "civilian", meaning non-Ophani, job of being a councilor to traumatized ninja (something she was good at with her mental skills). More than once she'd cut a session short to be sure Naruto had someone to walk home with.

She also tried her best in their time together to help teach him new things to make up for all the lost time. They already had a garden started, with various grains and vegetables growing in the main section. A smaller section had various antidotes and medicinal herbs growing in it, to supplement his skills.

Taijutsu wasn't a forte of hers, not that she was bad, but ninjutsu, especially high powered ones, had always been her favorites. Teaching Naruto the forms of the bird clans had been hard, but he practiced with a fire and a passion that would have made that strange Maito kid proud.

Kushina made a mental note to inform Naruto of the evils of neon green spandex.

"Naruto, please come here, there's something I want to talk to you about."

He stopped training and dragged his tired and sore body over. After depositing himself against a wall, the young boy felt his mom's arm go across his shoulders. He savored moments like this more than the best ramen Teuchi-ojisan could make.

"You'll be going back to the Academy soon. Try and get along with the others okay?"

He turned on one of his mega watt smiles and again Kushina minded herself to talk about spandex. At least there wasn't a sunset behind him. She shook her head to get back on track. Seemed both mother and son got distracted easily.

"Also Naruto-kun, this year we'll be having some guests after your classes. You remember the Hyuugas right?"

"They the quiet guys with the weird eyes?"

Kushina felt a sweatdrop coming on but pushed on. "Yes Naruto-kun. Do you remember the girl who sat with you when we visited?"

"Yeah, I think she was sick or something. She couldn't talk right and her face got all red."

Kushina wished she had a notebook for all the explanations her son needed. Observational skills would have been written next. Something else to do later.

"Well she and her cousin Neji will be coming over after school this year to have some extra training with me. How's that sound?"

It sounded good to him if she was reading his almost glowing face and strong hug. She chuckled and messed with his hair. She hoped this would help her little boy.

* * *

Naruto found his first day back in the Academy to be boring and tedious. None of the kids wanted anything to do with him, though Hinata would at least sit next to him. He just wished she'd talk more. It'd make the day less boring if there was someone to talk to. He vowed that day to help her with that, if only for his sanity's sake.

The teachers were mean and it was hard to keep his promise to his Kaachan to listen to them. He tried so hard to listen to them that he soon found his face on his desk with his eyes shut.

Hinata had to nudge him several times to keep him awake that day, and for many that followed.

After classes they met up with Hinata's cousin Neji. Long dark hair above a delicate face and a slight build were the first things Naruto noticed about the new arrival. The baggy clothes hid Neji's form so Naruto felt compelled to ask a question.

"Are you a girl or a guy?"

* * *

When Kushina later found the trio of kids, Neji was glaring at a confused Naruto with Hinata looking somewhere between amused and scandalized. Things became clear when her son saw her and asked her a question. She bit on lower lip to keep from laughing. '_Seems tact will be also going in that notebook, dang I forgot to pick one up._' "If this is Neji-kun, then he's a boy, Naruto-kun."

"Oh okay then. I couldn't tell," Naruto said innocently, oblivious of the hateful glare of the older boy.

Kushina sighed and prepared for the coming headache in keeping the two from fighting, though Naruto might not even be aware of it. "Okay, lets over to our house for training, shall we?" Kushina wondered how they would take to the dance lessons.

* * *

Dancing was okay for Naruto. Some were boring but others had enough energy in them to keep him happy. Sometimes he was paired with Hinata and sometimes with his mom. Something his mom called the waltz was his least favorite dance, but since it was with his mom, it was tolerable.

Neji on the other hand was a jerk. He never smiled no matter what anyone did and he seemed to hate Hinata, his own cousin! Naruto couldn't understand it. He only knew that Hinata was to Neji what Ayame was to Naruto, and treating Ayame badly was just wrong in the young boy's mind.

When he asked his mom about it, he got a brief explanation on politics, all of which sounded complicated and stupid to Naruto. Why couldn't the Hyuuga clan just be nice to each other, like Hinata was to Neji? She never said anything mean and always smiled when someone did a dance right.

Neji stopped doing it when Kaachan was around after being hit with her mental squeeze, but she got a lot of visitors who wanted her help. Naruto could feel his blood boil every time Hinata looked discouraged and all his cheering did little to help.

Until it was too much for Naruto to hold in. Neji made a comment about Hinata stumbling once on a complicated series and Naruto turned and slugged him hard in the jaw. The older boy was caught off guard but easily recovered.

Neji sneered at the younger boy, knowing it would make him angry. This Uzumaki child was an annoyance who tried and failed at the simplest things. Even his own wretched mother recognized his weaknesses but still she persisted in treating him like he was accomplishing something. She treated them all the same, even though he was clearly the best!

He cursed the destiny that made him a member of the Brach family, doomed to forever sit in the shadow of the Main family to wait for them to use him as they would. Just like they did with his father, when he was murdered to save Hiashi-sama's life.

His thoughts continued to spiral into his hate and arrogance and he and Naruto's fight became a mini war in the dance room. Neji did a full Juuken strike to his opponent's shoulder, pushing his own chakra into Naruto to cause internal damage.

Naruto grunted as he felt Neji's strike burn his shoulder. He found it hard to move but persevered and tried his mom's taijutsu style to counter Neji's Juuken. The two traded blows with Neji landing more hits than Naruto, but he still felt the pain of the bird clan's taijutsu style.

Naruto was down to one knee after Neji landed a weak strike to his leg. Most of his body felt aflame and he could barely move. What chakra control he had gained seemed gone. He looked at Neji to see that sneer again and groaned when Neji started speaking.

"You are a loser, that's your destiny. You can't rise above it. Everyone born in this life has a destiny in store for them and they have no say in it. Just like me in the Branch family, your destiny has already been decided. You were fated to lose this battle."

Naruto could only stare in shock at the boy standing in front of him. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. All this time Neji thought like this. Given everything his mother and his brother had taught him the last nine months, he came to only one conclusion.

Hyuuga Neji was a coward. He was stuck in his own little world and wouldn't look beyond it.

And Uzumaki Naruto wouldn't get beat by a coward.

He began focusing inward. He could feel his chakra keeping his yokai and shinsei apart. He felt the angry red yokai reach out and try to attract him to it, but he didn't want anything to do with it. He pulled on the soothing green shinsei and felt it fill his body and heal his wounds.

Neji looked on in horror and amazement as his apparently beaten opponent get back up and was covered in a green aura. His byakugan couldn't pierce the aura but as it died down he saw Naruto standing with no wounds visible inside or out. The green chakra was still in the younger fighter's chakra system. For the first time since their battle had started, Neji felt the first inklings of fear.

Naruto felt great, like he was flying! And he could see so clearly. Every thing looked clear, no matter how far it was! He could see every movement Neji's body made and could tell that the other boy was open for attack. He grinned at Neji and leaped. He covered the distance in an instance and landed a devastating hook to Neji's jaw, taking the arrogant jerk to ground hard.

The Hyuuga found he couldn't move. The pain in his jaw was paralyzing the rest of him. This chakra was different from anything he'd felt in his short life. He then looked into Naruto's eye's and saw that they had changed. His previous blue was now a glowing gold, with a feeling of intensity in the gaze.

"If you really believe that stuff about destiny then you should just give up right now. I'll never give in to defeat. I won't be a coward to follow whatever someone else said I have to be." He took a step towards Neji and placed a hand covered with shinsei on Neji's jaw, the bruise and the pain disappearing. "I may not be much now, but I _will_ become Hokage."

Neji felt something in his gut looking at the boy with golden eyes and this power. It was something he had not felt in years. Later he would recognize it as hope.

Naruto felt the shinsei fading away. He'd used too much healing himself, beating Neji, and then healing the fallen Hyuuga. But he saw the look in Neji's eye change and hoped that things would be different.

Hope changed to horror as red yokai filled his body.

* * *

Okay, sorry it took so long. I had a hard time setting up the Naruto/Neji fight the way I wanted. I'm hoping that future updates are faster. Please review, even if you thought something was wrong- helps me write faster and improve my writing skills.

Suiton: Mizubashira no Jutsu (Waterspout Techique): D-ranked ninjutsu. Fires a small stream of water from mouth. Duration of blast dependant on chakra applied.


	5. Friends and Troubles

I don't own Naruto

I don't own Naruto. I'm doing this for fun. Enjoy.

**The Winged Fox**

Chapter 5: Friends and Troubles

Naruto stared at the red yokai overflowing from his body. Horror and old repressed fears rose to the top of his mind. Scenes of bloody claws filled his mind's eye. He was aware that this yokai didn't burn like the Kyuubi's had.

This is until he saw the yokai begin to collect in his right hand. The pain he felt whenever chakra was focused there exploded up his arm then through the rest of him. A silent scream died at his lips as he struggled with his pain.

A gasp behind him caused Naruto to turn and see his Kaa-san with Hinata and another girl staring at him, the shock and despair evident in all their faces. Those looks clenched his heart like an iron vise, '_They're going to think I'm a monster. I'll lose them!'_

The tension in his chest loosened a bit as his Mom's eyes turned from shock to resolution. She rushed to his side and grasped his wrist. The pain stopped and the red aura around his right hand dimmed. She looked him in the eye, "Naruto! You need to run as fast as you can! Hurry!"

'_She wants me to run away! She doesn't want me anymore!' _the pain from his tortured mind showed on his face. Tears were streaming down his face.

Kushina's heart broke at her son's pain. A gentle psychic tendril and a physical hand rubbing his cheek tried to calm him. "Run around the village! Burn off the yokai quickly!"

Seizing that comforting command Naruto took off. His speed astounded everyone. His red aura blazed as he disappeared from view.

Kushina breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully Naruto's yokai wasn't as potent as James. Hopefully no demons had felt it. The local Ophani were all aware of her son's condition and would let her handle it. She looked down and saw the burn on her right hand begin to fade. Yokai burns were the worst to heal.

"Kushina-sensei, what happened to Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata. Confusion and worry were clear on her small face.

Neji and her new patient's expressions asked the same question. She sighed. "Let's go inside where prying ears can't hear." Kushina wondered how much she should say. While it would be good for Naruto to have his friends, though the term was a bit of a stretch regarding Neji, it really should be Naruto telling his secrets, not his mother.

Neji was the most interested in answers, now that the shock had worn off. "What was that green chakra, Kushina-sensei? One second Naruto was beat and the next he's laying me out like nothing had happened! Is it some sort of doujutsu? His eyes did change. . ." Neji trailed off as the sharp eyes of Kushina cut off his questions.

"I can't tell you everything, that's Naruto's decision, but I can explain the different chakra colors to you. The green is referred to as Shinsei, and is the basis of medical chakra. It can heal the person who creates it as well as others. It is a calmer chakra with great power associated with it. It also affects the mind a bit- makes them a bit empathetic with others.

"The red is called yokai. It heals only the one who creates it, to everyone else it's a poison. It also affects the mind, but by increasing the perception of self. Since this is Naruto's first time using it, he should be fine." She noticed that both Hyuuga children relaxed at that assurance. She looked out the window mentally searching for him.

Neji looked at the older girl sitting with him and Hinata. "Who're you?"

Anko glanced at the kid and smirked, "None of your business twerp."

"Anko-chan, be nice." Anko flinched at the admonition and looked away. "Neji, Hinata, this is Mitarashi Anko. She and I were talking about how things are going for her. Isn't that right Anko-chan?" Though Kushina smiled pleasantly at Anko, the girl got a "you'd better agree" vibe from the woman, and having felt her mind squeeze before, she quickly nodded.

* * *

It was the power he noticed first. After the terror of what was happening began to fade, Naruto really began to enjoy his run. He could feel the soft ground give under his feet and he could smell the crisp air just as well as before the fox had attacked him.

But it was that surging power he felt throughout his body. The feeing that he was invincible that really stuck with him that first of many runs. The sensations of his muscles tightening and exploding with each step were incredible. He ran around the village until all his burning energy was gone, leaving him exhausted and weak in the middle of a forest clearing.

He struggled to move and found that it was impossible. His chakra was mostly gone and his body just wasn't doing what it was told. He got worried when he heard heavy steps approaching. He hoped it wasn't some hungry beast looking for a tasty little boy to snack on.

Before his thoughts could get worse a loud happy voice rang out in the clearing. "WHAT'S THIS! AH IT'S THE YOUNGER BROTHER OF MY ETERNAL RIVAL! HAVE YOU BEEN TRAINING, YOUTHFUL LAD?"

Naruto stared in stunned silence at the young man posing dramatically next to him. He was mesmerized by the thick eyebrows the man had. They reminded him of the night crawlers that he found eating the leaves in his garden. He next noticed the skin-tight green spandex body suit the man wore under his green chuunin vest.

The exhausted boy could only gape as he was unceremoniously flung over the man's shoulder. "FEAR NOT MY YOUTHFUL CHARGE! I WILL RETURN YOU TO YOUR HOME IMMEDIATELY OR I'LL DO TWO HUNDRED FINGERTIP PUSHUPS!" Then they were off.

He was fast, Naruto had to admit. Everything was a blur as they made their way across the village to his house. He vaguely remembered hearing his mother's voice before he finally gave in to his fatigue.

* * *

She kissed her son's forehead after pulling the covers of his bed up to his chest. She spent a moment to gaze at his sleeping form, thankful he came home all right. The worry of the day bled away as she studied him.

As she quietly left his room, Kushina breathed a sigh of relief that it was Maito Gai who found her son. He was a good kid, insane definitely, but still a good kid.

"Thank you Gai-kun. I appreciate you bringing him home."

A blinding smile and a thumbs-up were her answer. She smiled at how the boy remembered her house rules. If only all her patients were as well behaved in her home, though Anko was a special case. She was improving- she was actually wearing modest clothes these days.

That reminded her that she had reports to finish for the Hokage. She grimaced as she thought of her current patients.

"Kushina-sama, is everything alright?" Dang she forgot that Gai was still here.

She strained to smile at the boy. "Just remembering some paperwork I need to do, Gai-kun. Thanks again for helping Naruto. Did you need anything?"

He smiled and gave a thumbs-up again and said in an enthusiastic but quiet voice, "You already helped me find the Flames of Youth Kushina-sama. Now I must finish my run! Farewell!" With that he disappeared down the hall and to the exit.

Kushina sighed and rubbed her forehead. How things got so twisted with that boy she probably would never find out. She could only hope that his benevolent insanity would stop with him. She reached into a pocket to bring out her notebook and flipped to beginning.

Item #3: _Tell Naruto the dangers of spandex and the Flames of Youth._

She crossed it out and hoped that actually meeting Gai should be enough of a deterrent to keep her boy from such behavior.

Now to take care of her oh so wonderful paperwork.

* * *

Neji couldn't sleep. The fight and its aftermath wouldn't stop going through his mind. His Byakugan eyes were sharp and he'd seen the conflicting chakras in Naruto before. He thought it was some problem the younger boy caused, but Kushina-sensei's explanation showed that Naruto had nothing to do with it.

It was the whiskered boy's destiny. A destiny he used to beat him. Was it Naruto's destiny to always have that internal conflict? Or could he overcome such an obstacle? Could Neji overcome his own?

Neji did not sleep that night.

* * *

Kushina closed the scrolls that contained the information about her two current patients. Mitarashi Anko had trust issues and a sadistic side to shield her from others. Kakashi had been similar, but with his dirty books. Kushina had worked on his people skills so he could function as normally with people as any ninja could. Maybe he could help Anko. He's someone she respects and wouldn't be really able to harm, as long as Kakashi didn't let his guard down.

She tried rubbing the sleep from her eyes and looked at the scroll of her other patient, Uchiha Itachi. His situation was different and far direr than Anko's. Conflicting loyalties between village and family with suspicion from both sides was destroying his psyche. The trauma of battle that he suffered at a young age was still there, only buried. His desire for non-conflict was strong. The only people he felt truly at ease with were herself, his mother Mikoto, his girlfriend Yumiko, and his little brother Sasuke.

He was drawing in on himself. She was able to help a bit and the few times he'd met Naruto she saw him try to smile. But he was still losing his grip on his sense of self. He was as bad as Kakashi in some ways. She was just glad her Ophani aids were able to keep an eye on him without being noticed.

Speaking of which . . .

"Robert, you have a moment?"

A thin man shimmered into view, "What do you require of me Suzaku-sama?"

He was dressed as most of the Invis Division were dressed- grey, nondescript clothing that showed little of his body and dull red ring that marked him as her second. His loyalty was unquestionable and he had kept things going in her absence. He was a true Ophani.

"Anything to report on the status of the village Elders?"

"Nothing as yet Suzaku-sama, but Danzo seems to wants more safeguards against the Uchiha clan in case of an uprising."

"Idiot, that'll make one more likely. The old goat's too paranoid for his own good."

"Sarutobi is able to prevent such action at this time, but if the Uchiha's don't stop their little plot sessions we may have a civil war to deal with." Robert's voice was tight with strain. Watching over the Uchiha's had long been his duty.

"I'll see what I can do with Sarutobi and Fugaku-kun. Hopefully a peaceful solution can be found. Anything that needs my attention?"

"Many of us felt Naruto-kun's use of Shinsei today- it's the talk of the Division." A wolfish grin showed his happiness at pointing this news out.

Kushina smiled and closed her eyes, "It did feel good to sense him like that. Though if it means he has to use his Yokai, I'd rather wait until he's ready to go to the Court."

Robert's expression grew pensive, "That won't be soon I hope. Not all the main Division Heads would see him as we do, though Combat Leader Gamabunta would love to take little Naruto under his webbed care."

Kushina chuckled, "He always was a softy when it came to kids. Which is probably why he and Dolores keep having them. If that's all, I'm going to bed."

"Very well. Good luck tomorrow with the Uchiha situation."

"I'll need it," was the tired reply.

* * *

Neji kept his eye on Naruto as they made the familiar journey to their dance lessons. The other boy didn't seem to remember yesterday, nothing the blond said or did seemed to be different than other days. Neji wished he could be as carefree.

"Naruto-san, could I talk with you for a moment?" Neji felt the direct approach would work best with Naruto, who seemed to take things head-on.

Naruto smiled and nodded. He hoped Neji wasn't scared of him after what had happened yesterday. "What's up?"

"I wish to apologize for my conduct the past three months. I judged you without being fully aware of your situation. My lack of good judgment is not a good shinibi trait and I-"

"You wanta be friends?" Naruto cut into Neji's self recriminations.

"What?" Neji was confused by this strange idea.

"Well, I don't have a whole lot of friends. I think we could be friends."

Neji looked at this strange person who didn't follow any of the rules that had governed his life until now. It put him off-balance in dealing with the young Uzumaki.

But having a friend didn't sound too bad. "Sure."

Naruto jumped for joy, "Yeah, I have a new friend." He stopped and whispered to Neji, "You think Hinata would be our friend too?"

Neji almost laughed at the absurdity that surrounded this impossible child. "I'm sure Hinata-sama wouldn't mind at all to be your friend." '_Though she may not wish to be mine,' _was a thought he kept to himself. Naruto happily cried again and ran off to catch up with Hinata.

Neji felt his mouth turn up at the corners in a natural smile. It felt good.

* * *

Time moved on, the dance lessons ended, though the kids remained friends. Neji found that Hinata's kindness extended to him as well. Her father also presented him with a scroll that showed his father's last thoughts to Neji. It told Neji that his father died to protect his brother and not the Main Branch, a distinction that Neji could appreciate.

The kids became closer after Neji fully let go of his bitterness for the Main Branch. It wasn't an uncommon sight to see the three of them playing across the village. They were as close as any other group of siblings.

Kushina was able to keep the Uchiha situation under control for awhile, but Robert reported that the secret meetings were still taking place. When she talked with Sarutobi about the situation, the weight on the old Hokage nearly broke his heart. All his attempts at diplomatic resolutions had failed miserably.

Kushina came upon a solution.

* * *

"Make Uchiha Itachi your successor as Hokage? Outrageous! We can't make an Uchiha Hokage." The village elders talked over each other to berate the Sandaime for his suggestion. He affixed the ninja of his generation with his best glare.

"This move will help heal the rift that the village has between the Senju and Uchiha clans that Madara created when he attacked us," Sarutobi reasoned.

"He's too young."

Sarutobi grinned, "Then I name him my apprentice and in 5-6 years he'll be ready. He's a good shinobi. He is loyal to the village and he has experienced war. It is the best solution to keep our village strong." The note of finality in his tone shocked the Elders, since Sarutobi usually wasn't this demanding outside of battle.

It told them that they had lost this round.

* * *

Ayame entered the apartment above the ramen shop, tired from her team's training. The Chuunin Exam was coming up and she expected her team to all get promoted. Tomayada-senei was a strict leader with a regime to match, but it wasn't any thing Ayame hadn't experienced under Kakashi-sensei.

She did worry about Yakushi-kun. He seemed to have a hard time keeping up with all the drills and team training they went through. She hoped he passed.

She would miss stealing those glasses of his.

* * *

Naruto was glad that Iruka-sensei got assigned to his class. The scarred chuunin didn't seem to be out to get him like the other teachers. Unfortunately, Umino Iruka was the junior of his instructors, so his "temper-training", as his Kaa-san called it, still got plenty of practice.

Like Aoba-sensei, who this morning said that he hadn't received Naruto's test from the other day, so the student, who knew he turned the test in, didn't get any credit for it and wouldn't get a chance to retake it.

Temper-training was the only thing Naruto felt the Academy was good for.

It was_ after_ the Academy that he could hang with his friends and train with his Kaa-san in the mental arts. He couldn't even ask Hinata for help without getting in trouble! Sometimes he wished he could just train with his Kaa-san and his friends. It'd be a lot better than trying to learn from the bigoted idiots at the Academy (well, except for Iruka-sensei).

So he was devastated when Hinata told him that she and Neji would be training with her mother after school. She didn't know how late the training would go, or how many months; she just knew it was more than one.

Naruto slowly gathered his stuff and walked forlornly outside. He was surprised to find his Kaa-san there with a girl he recognized from the year ahead of his. Her clothes and hairstyle were pretty unique in the village. The short-sleeved silk shirt with some loose fitting pants and two buns in her hair were hard to forget.

"Naruto-kun, this is Tenten. Tenten, this is my son Naruto. He's the one you'll be tutoring." Kushina made the introductions without any change in tone, which clearly showed she was very pleased with herself.

"Tutor?" Naruto didn't recognize the word and scrunched his face in concentration trying to figure it out.

"She's going to help you with your weapon use. Iruka-kun says she really knows her weapons, so listen to her okay, Naruto-kun?" She asked this with an almost pouting expression, but with enough firmness to let him know that she didn't want her work to be for nothing.

Naruto hang his head in resignation for a moment before raising it with a bright smile on his face. Tenten returned the smile, "Let's get started, okay?"

Naruto nodded and she grabbed his hand and dragged him off to discuss her favorite subject.

* * *

Well, here it is. Thanks for reading and please leave a review. I really like getting feedback on my writing.

I'm trying to speed up the growing up phase of Naruto's life. If you think I'm going too fast or too slow, let me know.

Scattered Dreams should be updated in two weeks for those who care, Winged Fox should be updated two weeks after that.


	6. Memories and Ramen Bowls

I don't own Naruto. I'm doing this for fun. Enjoy.

**The Winged Fox**

Chapter 6: Memories and Ramen Bowls

Pottery was one of the few things that had come easily to Naruto. It hadn't taken back-breaking practice to get to his current level of mastery, which made it one of his preferred methods of relaxation. He didn't need to bother anyone, no one would criticize his efforts and everyone appreciated the things he made.

Plus his lack of chakra control didn't come back to haunt him while he shaped the clay.

Training with Tenten showed that she had little to no actual control of her chakra, so he had suggested she try the tree climbing exercise. He did it every day to regain conscious control of his chakra, which disappeared when he inevitably needed to sleep.

It took him longer to regain control than for her to learn it.

He liked Tenten, she was his friend, and a nice girl who acted more serious about ninja matters than any girl in his class, except Hinata. She was also teaching him weapon use. Not tutoring, _teaching_, as in stuff that was never covered in the Academy. He believed that Tenten knew more about weapons than their Academy teachers. She had spent time learning multiple weapon styles; of course her father was considered the best weaponsmith in Konoha so it wasn't really a surprise.

But when she was in teaching mode the nice little tomboy that was his new friend became the taskmistress of his nightmares (more than one that he could remember). If not for his ability to heal quickly, his hands would be bloody and scarred for life. Though the harshness of the training was paying off, he could perform the weapon katas almost as well as Tenten these days.

When she'd mastered the tree climbing exercise, he'd shown her the water walking exercise which she learned the third time she tried. From then on, any spars they had were on 

water or areas where her new-found chakra control abilities could be honed. As a result, both children became stronger and more skilled. Though, in weapons at least, Tenten was still better.

Naruto enjoyed one of the side benefits of weapon training as he molded the clay beneath his hands with agile fingers and steady hands.

As he sat at his wheel, his worries faded and he was absorbed in his task. Teuchi had seen his work and asked if the blonde could make ramen bowls for him. When Naruto made too many for the older man to store in his shop, Ayame made the suggestion of having people buy their own bowls for their homes. They even let the little kids paint them while their parents waited for their orders to come.

Teuchi's Ramen experienced unprecedented growth as it became known as a place for families. Teuchi made enough to expand his stand into a full restaurant, but kept the food and prices the same. He found with the added business he needed to hire help to keep up with demand since Ayame recently made Chuunin and couldn't help out as much.

Thinking of his cousin reminded Naruto of a conversation he'd overheard (eavesdropping was a valuable skill for a shinobi after all) while practicing enhancing his senses, and what happened afterwards still worried him.

_Flashback_

_"Kushina-obachan, can you help me with something?" Ayame pleaded her aunt. Her tone set off many silent alarms in Naruto's mind. She sounded scared, and woe to whomever scared his cousin and he found out about it._

_"Of course Ayame-chan, what seems to be the problem?" Kushina's calming voice clearly heard by her son though he sat in meditation in another part of the house._

_"Obachan, is it normal to start seeing people differently?"_

_There was silence before Kushina asked something too quiet for Naruto to make out, but her tone was questioning, with a hint of a laugh. _

_"I don't know what happened, but when I get emotional the people around me look _different_." Naruto wondered at the emphasis. "I got angry at my Dad for something, I don't remember what, but I glared at him and I saw this young glowing guy where my Dad was standing."_

_Kushina sounded worried, "What kind of 'glowing guy' was it?"_

_"Um, I don't remember all that well, but I do remember thinking that he looked kind of like the picture of my Dad when he married Mom. Just with a light around him."_

_The rushing of steps and what sounded like pages in a book being flipped was the best he could make out for the next minute. Finally, his Mom's voice with a slight tremble in it came back and asked Ayame, "Will you let me try something?"_

_The next thing he heard was a loud scream of fire that nearly deafened Naruto. He bolted to where they were talking and threw open the door to find Ayame trembling in his Mom's arms. "Is she okay?" was all he could manage in his shock._

_"She saw something she wasn't ready for. And I found out that Ayame-chan has been blessed with a prized ability, but why she has it and for what purpose escapes me."_

_"Kaa-chan, what ability does Ayame-neechan have? Is it hurting her?" his panic was building as Ayame remained in his mother's embrace._

_"She's a spirit-seer."_

_Naruto looked at her for a moment. "So she sees spirits? Like ghosts?"_

_Kushina looked at him with a blank look, "No. She sees the spirits of living people. It is a rare gift among the Ophani. To her new eyes I must look like a small star with Suzaku's mantle." Naruto could see the worry in her eyes as she tried calming the distressed young woman._

_Ayame turned and looked at Naruto, and he froze as her eyes shone with an inner light. The fear in her face confused him. When she latched onto him and sobbed into his shoulder his confusion entered the confounded stage. "Mom . . .?" His tone and eyes begged her help. _

_Kushina reached over and tapped the back of Ayame's skull, causing the kunoichi to collapse on her cousin. "We'll have to wait and ask what she saw later. Now she needs her rest."_

_End Flashback_

After that, Ayame never said anything about what she saw to him, but she took extra care about him, like when he was sick or injured. When he asked her what was wrong she just started saying how sorry she was and cried into his shirt.

He learned to stop asking and after a while she went back to normal.

His mom didn't explain much about what happened and he just went on with his chores and training, normality restored. It lasted until the rumor spread across the Village that Uchiha Itachi was to be the next Hokage, though not for some years, then things got crazy again. It began with a late night visit from the Hokage successor himself.

_Flashback_

_"Kushina-sama, I require your guidance." Itachi was nothing if not polite when around Kushina. Might have something to do with that mind-squeeze she gave him when he tried to walk out of their first session._

_Naruto took the hint from his Kaa-san and left for his room. Though once there he got into a meditative position so he could focus his hearing on what they were saying. _

_Given how Itachi was near ranting, it wasn't very hard._

_"Even with my succession to Hokage, some of my foolish clan refuse to back down from their warlike positions. It makes me so __**angry**__ that they would so easily begin a civil war. Don't they know what that means for the Village . . ." this went on for a few more minutes before a loud __**slap **__was heard. A quiet thank you from Itachi really confused Naruto, wishing he could see what was going on._

_"Madara's betrayal of the Village is the reason for the current leadership's mistrust of your clan which has in turn caused their resentment and bitterness towards to the Village. This cycle will continue until someone breaks it. Sarutobi is doing his part by extending the olive branch to the Uchiha clan by making you the next Hokage, giving them a position of trust and authority. My advice to you is simple. You must help your clansmen learn from the past and live in the present. Otherwise Madara's fate will be shared by the entire clan."_

_"I thought you said it was simple?" Naruto wasn't sure if Itachi sounded amused or panicked. _

_"Easy and simple are two very different things. If you'll excuse me, I must compliment my son on his sensory enhancing achievements while instructing him on the folly of eavesdropping on private conversations."_

_Naruto didn't understand all the words his Kaa-chan used, but her tone told him that he was in trouble._

_End Flashback_

Since then, the Uchihas as a whole didn't act like jerks, but there were still quite a few who bullied their fellow villagers and even other Uchiha. This train of thought got Naruto thinking about the Uchiha he knew best.

New Clan Heir Uchiha Sasuke, who was given that position when Itachi was officially nominated to be Hokage Successor. An overall nice guy who adored his family and worked hard to make them proud.

He was also the closest thing Naruto had to a taijutsu rival.

The Inuzuka boy in their class was a hot head, so Naruto could easily get in his head (skill picked up from Kakashi) and easily take him down. Akamichi Chouji was his friend and didn't like fighting at all, partly because of his gentle nature and partly from his pudgy build. He was learning his clans expanding techniques, but there wasn't much point to the infamous power of the Akamichi jutsus if they couldn't touch their targets. Naruto did help Chouji out occasionally with his speed, but the stout boy needed to do more on his own, not just when pushed.

Sasuke was physically better balanced than Chouji, and was more mentally stable than the Inuzuka. Naruto was physically stronger and faster, but Sasuke always gave him a run for his money. The Uchiha was too aloof to be a friend, but he definitely had his Uzumaki classmate's respect. It was rumored that Sasuke had evened learned a C-rank Katon (Fire Release) jutsu from his father, typically a rite of passage in the clan.

Speaking of fire . . .

Gathering his newest creations onto a car, Naruto wheeled them into a kiln that was a birthday present from most of his family last year. It was also when his Kaa-chan had gotten him started on his Ophani training.

_Flashback_

_"Kaa-chan what're we doing in my kiln?" It gave the boy such a thrill to call anything his own, even though it was a gift._

_"Naruto, in a few years I'm going to go back to the Ophani Court to report on my version of what's happened here in my protectorate." That was one of the big words his Kaa-chan liked to use, and it made him proud to know that he could recognize some of those words. "I will also need to present you to the Council Naruto, as my son and as a new Ophani."_

_The boy stared at his mother a few silent moments before shrugging, "So?"_

_Kaa-chan didn't seem happy with his answer._

_"Kaa-chan . . . ?"_

_"Naruto," Kushina began, but broke off. She looked on the verge of crying and that worried Naruto a great deal. "You know your father made a deal so he and I could marry, right?"_

_He nodded._

_"That deal was about our children- you Naruto. Ophani are very family oriented, but they also expect excellence from everyone. Some are not as forgiving as others."_

_Confused blue eyes were her answer. Kushina sighed and looked right into her son's eyes. "Naruto, you don't measure up to the Ophani standard yet." Before he could protest, she __placed a finger on his lips. "I know it's not your fault. You have handicaps that very few people can even compare with, and you have done very well in your shinobi training. But Ophani standards are much higher than shinobi. Ophani are the guardians and guides for humanity, so we have to be better. I haven't trained you for that, and it's about time I started."_

_She took out three slips of paper, "These are used by ninjas to identify elemental alignment. You have three chakra sources, so I need to know what elements they have. We need to test all three, even yokai. I've let this slide long enough. You can decide what order you're tested."_

_Naruto didn't like using his yokai, but if his Kaa-chan said he had to he'd rather get that one out of the way first. So when Kushina placed the first slip on his forehead, Naruto worked to get angry- the emotion his yokai was best connected with. He could feel his anger grow with the villagers who treated him like dirt, the teachers who neglected him in class, and the parents who kept their kids away. He could feel that dirty feeling, like something was wrong with his blood, flow through him and he could feel the paper get wet and dissolve._

_"Hmm, like I thought, your yokai's element is wood. Makes sense with it being based of James' yokai and he was a forest fox. Though I don't think you're going to want to use it much, huh?"_

_Naruto vigorously shook his head in an emphatic no. _

_Kushina pulled what remained of the first slip away and told Naruto to pick another chakra source. He breathed deeply to purge his body of yokai, replacing it with normal human chakra. She placed it on his forehead and he felt it split in two._

_"Wind Element eh? Seiryuu'll be happy about that. Must have come from your father's line. Okay, Shinsei's last."_

_As usual, Naruto savored the clarity and peace Shinsei brought him as his mother placed the last slip on his head. It caught on fire, but didn't seem to burn him._

_"I thought so. Seems you picked up my fire element from Suzaku. That'll go perfectly with your pottery hobby. It'll save a ton on heating costs."_

_End Flashback_

So his training began in elemental manipulation by generating heat with his shinsei. Apparently it was easier with shinsei than his other chakras, and he practiced fire the most because of all the stuff he'd made.

His wind training was largely blowing small gusts of wind out of his mouth right now, since he had a bracelet on each wrist that kept his chakra from getting in. The one on his right wrist was so he didn't mess with the yokai splinter lodged there, and the one on his left was so his chakra system didn't get unbalanced (at least, that's the reason his Kaa-chan gave him).

He hadn't even attempted wood manipulation, since he avoided his yokai like the plague. He usually burned it off with a quick run much like he did that first time, and that was the only thing he believed yokai was good for.

Shaking his head to clear the downward spiral he was heading in, and after a few cleansing breathes, he felt the peace that always came with shinsei. He couldn't make a flame yet, but by focusing everything he had into fire manipulation he could push "hot" shinsei out of the chakra points all around his body (except his hands). This little exercise got easier every time he did it, and since he did it a couple times a week, he was getting quite good.

The bowls hardened quickly and Naruto kept an eye out for any that were ready. Once they were done, he pulled the heat back in. That was the extent of his fire right now, pushing and pulling heat. Kaa-chan said that once he really got the hang of it, he could refill his chakra with sunlight.

As Naruto put the finishing touches on his latest creations he thought about the birthday coming up. His brother Kakashi was very hard to shop for, and Naruto didn't have any money anyway, so he'd been trying to help out his brother in a different way.

A new training regime to be precise.

Loading his wares onto his cart, Naruto made his way to Ichiraku's Ramen to drop them off. The arrangement worked for their family, cheap ramen for Naruto and free bowls for Teuchi. The closed sign was out, so Naruto went around the back and used his spare key to drop the bowls off.

Then it was off to do research. Kakashi-niisan's birthday present wasn't going to be easy, but Naruto had an idea of what could work.

* * *

Well, here's the next chapter. Lots of flashbacks I know, but I wanted to get the info here out as fast as possible to set up the more exciting things to come. If you have a comment, complaint, joke, rumor, or gossip, please leave a review (it does wonders for an writer).

Scattered Dreams will be updated next, don't know when.


	7. Birthdays and Bloodlines

I don't own Naruto. This is just for fun. Enjoy.

**The Winged Fox**

Chapter 7: Birthdays and Bloodlines

It was the birthday party for one adopted Uzumaki Hatake Kakashi. Some things, like the frilly decorations, he abhorred, and other things, like the imported cake, he savored. The usually masked face that so vexed his friends and colleagues was bare as he lingered on the chocolate cake with cherry filling. He was leaning against a wall working on his second helping when a kunoichi strolled up next to him.

"Enjoying that cake?" asked Mitarashi Anko, one of Kushina's frequent patients, wearing a barely modest purple dress that matched her hair color perfectly. Kushina wouldn't have allowed anything too risqué, especially with Naruto present, but the broad straps and just above the knee cut of the dress met the older woman's approval.

Kakashi nearly choked on the piece he was trying to chew. Surprise was one reason his usual stoic defense didn't kick in. Anko was acting flirty, but far more subdued than was her norm. Everything from her stance to her smile was casual, which scared him more than her provocative, seductive usual behavior. Anko didn't do "casual" after all.

He glanced at Kushina for help and felt the blood flee his face at the gleam in her eye. He understood the conspiracy against him as Amakichi Chouza and Morino Ibiki maneuvered beside him with happy smirks. Though their builds were different, with Chouza being more rotund compared to Ibiki's square shape, both were physically strong and obviously there to prevent an escape. As he tried to prepare to do just that, he felt the steely grip of Kushina's mind squeeze.

'_Just relax, Kakashi-kun.'_

His temporary shock allowed the two largely built men to each grab an arm and one removed his plate with its half-eaten piece of cake. Before he could even protest the robbery of his desired treat, Anko placed her hands on his cheeks and planted a firm kiss on his lips. Five seconds later, Anko broke it off and smiled, "Happy Birthday, Kakashi-kun." Then she spun on her heel and strutted away.

The stunned birthday boy didn't even try to stop the slack jawed stare that followed her. He looked at Chouza, who handed back his plate with a noticeably smaller piece of cake on it. After he finished off what was left, he pulled his mask up and settled for glaring at his betrayers.

Seeing him sulking, Kushina stepped onto a chair and yelled, "Alright, time for presents!"

"He already got mine!" replied a smug kunoichi. A wave of chuckles swept the room.

Kushina then proceeded to put Kakashi through the shameless ritual of sitting him down and having people bring their gifts to him one by one. Most were ninja related (kunai, shuriken, an armored undershirt, etc), with only Kushina and Anko's presents being the exception. Kushina got him an elegant kimono with silvery wolves over a navy blue backdrop. Naruto said he'd give his gift in private, confusing Kakashi since the boy usually loved to do things with a crowd.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So Naruto, there a reason you wanted to give me my gift in the dojo?" Kakashi asked.

The dojo in the Namikaze residence was underground and protected by an array of seals designed by the Fourth Hokage to develop new techniques in private. It had helped when Kushina had needed to train Naruto in some of the Ophani styles, since her people were very picky about who learned their prized techniques and training methods. Some of the luxuries installed with the high security included self-cleaning surfaces, temperature control, and color changing walls.

Naruto grinned at his brother and held up a box he'd taken from the kitchen. Kakashi arched an eyebrow at him in question.

"Toothpicks?"

"Just watch, niisan. I figured out this really good training method so you don't have to train so long, but still stay in shape. No cheating with that eye."

Kakashi's other eyebrow joined its twin in curiosity. Naruto had a knack for creative, and often impractical, solutions, so the jounin decided to wait and see what the determined kid had in store for him.

Naruto dumped the toothpicks on the ground and placed them one-by-one by the points to the bottoms of his feet. The blue glow along the toothpicks showed that they were charged with Naruto's chakra, which impressed Kakashi since Naruto's chakra control had always been a problem. When he'd attached enough, Naruto jumped to his feet, the toothpicks holding his weight and Kakashi could tell that there wasn't even a hint of strain on the thin wooden sticks. Getting more impressed by the second, he watched as Naruto walked slowly around the dojo, wobbling at times but still maintaining his balance.

Naruto was able to almost circle the dojo when he hissed in pain and fell, grumbling as he pulled the bloody tiny spear out of his foot. The other toothpicks were left embedded in the ground where Naruto had been. He focused his shinsei into his foot to heal the wound and sighed in disappointment.

Kakashi's analytical mind started breaking down what Naruto would have needed to do, but he paused and gazed at his little brother when he heard the sigh. It was a birthday present, one he'd obviously put extraordinary time and effort into, and it would be an insult to not let him explain it himself.

"So how did that work, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto's grin washed the dejection away. He explained how he wanted to give Kakashi a way to train his body and chakra at the same time. Starting with known chakra control exercises, he'd found the best way to control chakra was by using small areas, which led to the use of senbon needles then toothpicks.

"But why toothpicks Naruto-kun?"

"Well, I used way too much chakra with senbon, so I figured '_might as well do something useful with that extra chakra_' and that led to me using it to strengthen the toothpicks. My control still slips all the time, so I have to go barefoot. Mom wasn't happy when I had to throw away a new pair of house slippers."

Kakashi took it all in and was amazed at how Naruto had pulled together so many aspects of ninja training into one thing. The time saving aspect alone would make it valuable, but the various applications of chakra use were just beginning to form in his genius mind. None of it was new to the varied world Kakashi had been born into, but when shown like this it inspired the Copy-ninja.

The precision, the defense, the strength, the balance: all they needed was speed and all the basic needs of a taijutsu style were met. Kakashi ran through some ideas and smiled underneath his mask. With Naruto's creativity and his own experience with picking things apart, they just might be able to pull together a brand new family style. His little brother had just given a very cool birthday present.

He couldn't wait to see how Gai reacted to it.

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Kushina glided over the sleeping village on red wings. She pulled them in and dove to where her older son was currently chatting with a stone. She knew he'd hear her approach, but it hardly mattered. It took more than a visiting mother to get Kakashi from his brooding. Hopefully tonight she would find that help.

As she came closer to the ground, her bird body shifted to grow longer legs that lost their feathers and melted into clothes and shoes. When her feet were solidly on the ground, her upper body blended between bird and woman until Uzumaki Kushina stood regally behind Kakashi. He continued to chat with the ghosts of his tortured conscious until she spoke.

"Did you really need to sneak out in the dead of night to come here, Kakashi-kun?"

He paused and sighed. She waited for him to say something, but he just stood there resting his hand on the stone memorial for the dead heroes of the village. His whole team had their names written on there, with Uchiha Obito nearest the top. The teammate who died first and gave Kakashi the Sharingan that most associated with the famous jounin. The one Kakashi mourned the most, since Obito had died protecting him in a collapsing cave.

Kakashi turned his head a bit to look at her with said Sharingan. Kushina wondered how long it had been since there were tears flowing from it like tonight. He finally talked to her, "I just thought they would like to know how things are going, kaa-san."

Her smile didn't reach her eyes as she regarded him. She knew how much this would affect him if it worked, but if her plan worked, then maybe two spirits would be able to rest easier after tonight.

"I think it's time to let go of that pain; I know Obito wouldn't have wanted this for you."

He nodded, acknowledging the point, but he didn't make a move from the stone. She sighed and approached him, raising her right hand to the back of his head. "**Sleep**." The authority in her voice was a physical force that struck Kakashi and made him obey.

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In a battered theatre seat, Kakashi looked around bewildered, a state that didn't happen to him often. Red seating with bronze armrests made up the seats he was currently placed in. The walls were covered in pictures, both elegant and childish, that depicted events in his life ever since he'd been given Obito's Sharingan.

"Enjoying my artwork Kaka-baka?" The question came from the front of the theatre where the shadows hid a grown man standing; from his posture Kakashi could determine that his arms were crossed. As the man stepped forward Kakashi felt the frozen blade of regret pierce his throat, keeping him from breathing or speaking.

It was an adult version of Obito, with his left eye missing. The smile he had was that same cocky carefree grin that graced him in life. He wore the same clothes, down to the goggles on his head. He hopped off the stage and made his way up the aisle to Kakashi's row.

Kakashi could only stare in surprise and shock as his first friend sat down near him and leaned back in his seat. Placing his feet on the seat in front of him and putting his hands behind his head, Obito looked like he didn't have a care in the world. The surreal atmosphere was broken by Obito's gut-busting laughter.

"Oh, the look on your face is great. Even with your mask I can tell your mouth is hanging wide open, Kaka-baka."

Kakashi finally got control of his vocal cords to ask, "W-w-w-what's going on? Where are we?"

With a flourish, Obito waved his arm to encompass the entirety of the room. He used his best showman's voice to describe their current situation, "This, my friend, is where I've spent the last decade or so since I gave you my eye. I've had to redecorate a bit – place was a bit drab when I showed, but then you've never been one for color. The screen up there shows everything you've seen with my Sharingan, which hasn't been all that interesting to tell you the truth. Couldn't you have used it to look at the pretty ladies in the village once in a while?

"Now the speakers are something I cobbled together with the junk that gets dumped here from your mind. It was cool when I could hear everything you did, kind of like a live radio feed with the craziest shows on the air. It really helped to fight the boredom. Though, you know, I've gotten real tired of hearing you blame yourself for my death."

Obito glared for the first time at Kakashi and the living man wondered how he should respond to that. _I'm sorry_ didn't seem to cover their situation. As he stared at Obito, he noticed for the first time the chain connecting Obito to the floor. He couldn't see a ring or any other device that it would attach to; it just seemed to merge with him and his clothes and hang to the floor where it simply melted in.

Obito noticed the gaze at his chain and chuckled, "Yeah, this is what I'm talking about. You can't let me go and that keeps me here. I can't leave this room. Makes me glad I don't need the bathroom anymore, you know?"

Kakashi's shock was burned away at his anger and self-loathing. His selfishness had done this to his friend, making him a prisoner to his failings and the broken promises. Anger exploded to rage as he made the signs for Chidori to destroy the chains, but he couldn't feel his chakra.

Obito laughed and said, "You want to bust me out, Kaka-baka? It's simple – forgive yourself and move on with your life. It's that simple."

Kakashi was bowled over at that solution. Kushina had said that numerous times for various things, but never had she mentioned it being a way to help someone else.

Obito smiled and leaned over, "If you're wondering, there is something out there. Rin stops by and visits. Let me go see her, Kakashi. She worries about us enough as it is."

Kakashi's eyes widened. The fact that Obito had seen Rin, and didn't seem to hate him for failing to protect her, was such a relief that he honestly couldn't keep his friend stuck in this room. The chain broke halfway and the bottom half disappeared into the floor while the upper half dangled awkwardly from his thigh. The two looked at each other and Obito started laughing.

"Wow! Guess you really are a genius Kaka-baka. Though I will need to lug this around until you can fully let go, at least now I can leave and see the gang. Though there is one last thing, old buddy."

Kakashi suddenly found himself stuck to the chair with something holding his head in place. Obito came over and pulled up the hitai-ate covering Kakashi's left eye. He made a peace sign, and smiled at his prisoner, then jabbed his eyes with his two raised fingers.

Kakashi gasped as he felt his eyes burn and had to bite back a crying in pain as the burning grew. The last thing he heard was Obito's voice saying, "Take care, and be sure to ask that Anko chick on a date. It'd be good for the both of you."

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Kakashi groaned as he awoke, the pain in his eyes had lessened but was still a problem. He pried the offending sensory organs open and saw he was in his room. He also noticed that he was still in the same clothes he'd been in when he visited the stone before his little trip to see his dead teammate. He wondered if his visit with Obito was just a dream and shrugged. He had more immediate concerns.

After he flushed the toilet, he looked in the bathroom mirror and jumped in shock at the reflection looking back at him. It looked like the usual man he was used to seeing there, but instead of the normal black iris there was a golden one looking at him. He pulled up his hitai-ate and saw that a matching golden rim surrounded the black pupil instead of the red with black tomoe.

As he stumbled from the bathroom, he saw Kushina staring at him, smiling brightly. "A Spirit Blessing is usually something small, but I guess having Obito with you so long let him do something truly miraculous."

Kakashi was getting tired of how many times he had been shocked in the last 24 hours, and recovered from his most recent bout to ask in a voice more relaxed than he felt, "And what miracle would that be, Kaasan?"

Her grin evolved to a full blown smile, "Why, he gave you your own kekkei genkai, silly. Couldn't you tell?"

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Well, there it is. I know that this a Kakashi focused chapter, but Naruto and his generation will take the stage next time. The bloodline and taijutsu style will be covered in time.

Please review, or at least give me some form of feedback. Silence is the mindkiller after all.


	8. Test and Tutors

I don't own Naruto. This is just for fun. Enjoy.

**The Winged Fox**

Chapter 8: Reports and Fights

Kakashi raised his hands into a defensive guard, waiting for the green-spandex wearing ninja across from him to make the first move. Maito Gai, the self-proclaimed Green Beast of Konoha, was the village's premier taijutsu user and Kakashi's favorite sparring partner, though he would never say that aloud. Gai's sense of fashion and grooming had lead to a bizarre mix of green spandex, orange legwarmers, glossy black hair in a bowl cut, and two thick eyebrows that were commonly confused with caterpillars. Despite his appearance, Gai could move and hit like a vengeful specter, and that was exactly what Kakashi wanted.

"Here I come, my hip eternal rival!" cried Gai as he attacked. They exchanged a series of brutal strikes, with Kakashi's blocks shrugging off Gai's blows. Gai leapt back to study what had happened. As he kept a wary eye on Kakashi, Gai smiled. "Finally you have accepted the youthful way of taijutsu into your life, my rival! Now show how far you can take it!" Gai cried as he reached down and pulled down the orange legwarmers and revealed a set of weights on his legs. With a practiced flick of his wrists, both sets of weights fell to the ground.

The two clashed again, though this time Kakashi had to work harder to keep up his blocks and avoid becoming a projectile. Gai seemed to focus on Kakashi's blind side, where his hitai-ate covered his left eye. The ground cracked under him as Kakashi tried to keep his feet in place using chakra to ground. More explosive hits followed, knocking him around, until he let Gai land a kick to the ribs. Grabbing the leg, Kakashi locked Gai into position for a strong thrust punch to the solar plexus.

The air in Gai's lungs exploded out and his eyes bulged comically, but he managed to twist his body enough that the blow didn't cleanly hit the nerve cluster. Kakashi used his grip on Gai's leg to twist the Green Beast to the ground and moved quickly to put him into a submission hold with one arm twisted up and a kunai lightly touching the back of Gai's neck.

"I think that is enough for this evaluation."

Both fighters stopped and, after Gai got to his feet, stood in front of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, who had been asked to watch the fight and see Kakashi's new style. Kushina was also there, to give support to her older son. The Hokage looked at the masked ninja intensely.

"And what do you call this style?"

Kakashi answered calmly, "Steel Palm."

"Interesting name." Sarutobi chuckled, "How are your ribs? Gai got a solid hit on them."

Kakashi tapped his side, "Just fine. The hands aren't the only part that's steel with our new style."

"Write up the necessary requirements and standards for it and I'll have it entered in as the family style of the Uzumaki clan, with all the rights, privileges, and duties inherent in that." Nodding a farewell to Kushina Sarutobi left the clearing.

Kushina hugged her adopted son. "I'm proud of you and the work you put into this. Naruto will be overjoyed that your style is official. After his last training session with me he's lost a great deal of his drive."

Kakashi nodded and smiled beneath his mask. He'd also noticed his little brother's attitude change, and he knew this accomplishment would help bolster the small boy's spirits. "I'll put the finishing touches on the scroll Jiraiya-sama made for us and then tell Naruto the good news."

Kushina smiled, "I noticed you didn't use your new gift."

Kakashi shrugged, "Best to keep that a secret until I need to reveal it. That way it'll be harder for enemy-nin to know what I can do. Naruto at Ichiraku's?"

She nodded. He disappeared with the customary smokescreen to cover his Shunshin no Jutsu.

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto sat in his favorite restaurant and talked with his cousin about the Chunin Exam her team had entered. She had passed and was due to be promoted by Hokage the day after tomorrow. She was excited for the extra pay and more challenging missions, but was sad that her teammates had not been promoted with her. Both were transferred to genin teams lacking a third member.

"I'm especially worried about Yakushi-kun. He still has those red chains around him that I can't figure out." Ayame had worked on her Spirit Sight considerably, and already had requests from the Interrogation Division for insights on some of the more stubborn prisoners. She still flinched whenever she so much as glanced at Naruto with it, but he had other worries.

Two weeks ago his mother had started him on mental training. It started with basic defenses and worked up from there. Their last session had been on empathy, and he had taken to it quickly. Once passed off he had gone off to brag to his cousin. On the way to see her, he had kept his empathy going. He had known that the villagers looked at him coldly. He knew that they blamed him for what the Kyuubi had done.

He hadn't known true hate until a street full of people flooded his mind with it.

Desperate to escape the emotional kunai hurled at him, he'd rushed home, collapsing into his mother's embrace. He sobbed in her arms for nearly an hour that day, as she helped soothe the damage done. Any mental training he'd done since then focused on keeping things out of his head.

On the plus side, less training meant he could hang out with Ayame, and that always made him feel better, even if she sometimes couldn't look at him without wincing. Just hearing her go on about her teammates, even that Yakushi guy, let Naruto relax.

"His father is too busy running the hospital to actually see to his needs. I mean, he has so much potential if his dad just helped him out some. Are you listening to me, Naruto-kun?"

He blinked and looked at her in confusion, "Of course, neechan, your voice is a soothing melody to my ears." Kushina had made him read a few books on poetry stating it'd help out with calming people down. She was usually right.

"Don't give me that. You were staring off into space."

Okay, and sometimes his mom was wrong. "No really, your voice really relaxes me."

Ayame shook her head, "Baka. You probably didn't hear a word I said."

"You were talking about your 'Yakushi-kun' again, neechan."

Ayame blushed, "How's the Academy going?"

Naruto sighed. Ayame always changed the subject when embarrassed. "Academy's good, though I still have trouble with the homework."

"Well, I know that your taijutsu and weapon scores should be the best," a new voice said.

"Ten-chan! I thought you were too busy to train between your dad's shop and the Academy homework." Naruto smiled a bit brighter as his training partner showed up, though, to the two girls, it obviously didn't reach his expressive eyes.

"I'm taking a break from the shop. I might not have time to train, but eating lunch with a friend I do have time for."

Now his eyes lit up enough to make the girls think chakra was involved. The three settled into a comfortable silence as Ayame brought ramen over for all of them. Naruto took his time to savor the flavorful broth and noodles, but he still finished before the girls. After draining the leftover broth from the bowl, he glanced at Tenten then back at his empty bowl.

"What is it Naruto?" asked Tenten. As a ranged weapon specialist, reading people was an essential skill for Tenten, and Naruto, an open book to most people, was transparent as glass to her. She looked him in the eye with the same determined expression she took to most challenges. "What was that look for?"

Naruto flushed with embarrassment but kept silent. Ayame looked between them and Naruto saw the change in her eyes to see Tenten's spirit. He wondered what his cousin saw when she looked at someone's spirit. It might explain why she always tried to avoid looking at him with that special sight.

"Well?"

He looked over to see Tenten still giving him the determined look. "Oh, sorry, I was just wondering how graduation's looking? It's six months right?"

Tenten rolled her eyes, "Yes, but don't change the subject. That wasn't what you were thinking about. Now spit it out!"

He fidgeted on his stool and stared at the empty ramen bowl. "I . . . once you graduate you won't have as much time to train with me."

Tenten sighed, then laughed, "You're right, and that means we'll have to make those sessions the best we can, right?" Her smile seemed to brighten Naruto as he nodded.

As Ayame replaced Naruto's bowl, they settled into a more comfortable silence until an explosion of smoke directed their attention to the newly arrived Kakashi.

"Kakashi-niisan! I thought the demonstration was going on. Don't tell me you're late!" yelled Naruto in a mix of surprise, worry, and anger.

Kakashi just waved his concerns off. "Demonstration is already done. This is for you."

His adopted brother handed him a large scroll. Naruto looked at the words written on the outer cover, and then sent a wide eyed stare to Kakashi. "It's official? Jiisan approved it?"

Kakashi nodded.

"Yahoo!" Naruto jumped off his stool, hugged Ayame then Tenten, and danced around Kakashi like one of the elder's dog summons waiting for a treat.

"Naruto!" Kakashi yelled. "Calm down."

Naruto stopped dancing but his grin didn't diminish in the slightest. Kakashi chuckled at the girls' confused expressions.

"What's going on?" Ayame asked.

Naruto gave her the biggest smile his face could handle, "Niisan and I have been working together to make a family style of taijutsu, and today it got made official!"

Ayame looked from one brother to another. "So do I get to learn this new style?"

"Of course, neechan. You're family!" Naruto said loudly.

Tenten fake pouted, "Oh, I guess that means I don't get to learn it."

Naruto's sputtering assurances that she could were silenced by Tenten's giggling.

Kakashi said, "You both will need to sign this scroll to be accepted as a student. It protects the style, meaning you can't teach its secrets without adverse consequences."

Ayame rolled her eyes, "I wouldn't betray a family confidence Kakashi." Tenten nodded her agreement.

Naruto broke into the conversation, "So when can I sign the scroll?"

Kakashi pointed to a blank section next to where his own name was signed in blood, "You sign here in blood, showing you're a master able to teach. That can wait though, since your mom is planning a 'surprise party' tonight to celebrate."

In the ninja world, you gave advance notice about surprise parties to anyone above academy level; otherwise, the guest of honor might ruin the party by attacking the other guests, thinking they were being ambushed.

"But for now, I think I'll have a miso pork bowl please." Kakashi set the large scroll next to his stool and the others started talking about the new Uzumaki family style. The comfortable buzz of conversation was eventually overcome by the sound of explosions coming from the Uchiha district. Kakashi used his acute chakra senses and checked if it was a training accident or something more serious.

He leapt to his feet when he felt killer intent faintly emanating from the Uchiha's home. To feel it at this distance must mean battle, not sparring, was happening. He turned to Naruto and handed the boy the scroll. "Naruto, can you take this back home? I need to check out the Uchiha district. Make sure everything's alright."

No sense in alarming anyone.

* * *

Kakashi arrived to find a battle field in the Uchiha District. Uchiha fought Uchiha and the District burned. Seeing the Military Police on hand, Kakashi went to ask them about the situation.

An uprising had started among the Uchiha Clan, but they'd botched the attempt. Many ninja from the village had arrived to help and quickly a force of village regulars and Military Police had contained many insurgents. Within an hour the uprising had fallen.

Kakashi found Itachi sitting, minus a shirt, in front of his house where his mother Mikoto cleaned two puncture wounds in his back. His younger Sasuke laid face up on the ground next to them, head on Itachi's leg. The boy appeared uncounscious.

"Yo," said Kakashi.

"Hello Kakashi-san." The Uchiha matriarch nodded a greeting while finishing the bindings on her eldest. "Thank you for you aid."

Kakashi merely nodded back. A masked ANBU appeared near Kakashi and delivered a report of the battle. Almost half of the Clan was dead, many being insurgents though many loyalist Uchiha had been killed at the start. Only two insurgents escaped capture – Uchiha Mariko and her father.

Kakashi looked at Itachi, "Your fiance was an insurgent?"

"Her father was the prime leader, and her task was to kill me. Stabbed me in the back with a pair of chop-sticks. Later she killed my father trying to killl Sasuke."

Kakashi nodded. "How is your brother taking all this?"

Itachi sighed, "Not well. He had to be sedated after seeing Father die."

"And how are you takning this Uchiha-san?" Kakashi asked Mikoto.

"I will be alright. We were both ninja and knew that death is a part of that life. I am deeply disappointed in those of our clan that betrayed us, but we will rebuild. The Uchiha fan the Will of Fire after all." The woman never looked away from her work of caringfor her son. "Sasuke worries me though. Could you ask Kushina to come and meet with him? I would appreciate it."

"I'll ask," Kakashi promised. "Also, if he needs someone spar with Naruto is available. They're the same age and it will give them both valuable experience."

Itachi nodded. "A rival could help him move on, or just give him another target for his pain. Is your brother up for that challenge?"

Kakashi grinned, "I think he'll do just fine."

* * *

They met once a week to have the boys spar, though it usually erupted into a small battle. Sasuke was better with ninjutsu, while Naruto dominated taijutsu, so both tried to make each fight take place on their terms, and more than once the elder brothers had to interfere to keep too much blood from being spilled. Neither wanted the mothers on their case.

School continued on and Naruto began again to suffer in the non-physical classes: history, math, etc. Kushina again suggested a tutor his age, hoping he'd make more friends like Tenten. So she got asked the teacher Umino Iruka who the smartest in the class was.

The next day, she asked Haruno Sakura to help Naruto with his studies. The pink haired girl came from a civilian family and was incredible intelligent for her age. Money or an exchange of training was offered and she decided on the training, given Naruto's skill in taijutsu, an area she lacked in.

The next six months had Naruto busy. He trained a great deal, both as a student as well as a teacher. Tenten and Ayame came twice a week for instruction in the new Uzumaki family style, Neji met with him to exhange ideas on new jutsu variations, and his study time with Sakura made the months fly by.

Along with giving taijutsu training, Naruto had discovered that his new tutor had talent with tag seals. Fuinjutsu required an intuitive knowledge and recognition of a seal, as all users of the art were as different as their penmenship, but tags were mathmatical. Plus with her fast writitng speed, she could perfectly copy any full tag seal in under a minute, though she didn't have the chakra yet to charge them to more than a small pop. Both were excited at the discovery, Sakura at finding something she was suited for in combat and Naruto due to most boys' fascination with explosions.

* * *

Six month before graduation, Naruto realized how much on a jerk Mizuki-sensei was. The class was working on a ninjutsu basic - the henge no jutsu. Naruto had been able to get out of most of it by having his mom bring a note citing medical reasons that would be resolved later. Iruka-sensei had grumbled a bit, but had been impressed by Naruto's work ethic in most other subjects.

Mizuki apparently hadn't gotten a note. "For the last time Naruto, there is no note and I won't fall for your lies like Iruka-sensei does. Now perform the jutsu!"

Naruto put his hands into the ram seal and tensed up, hoping to fool his teacher and just escape trying to destroy his hand.

"I can tell you're not really trying. If this is your attitude, I'll have to recommend you be dropped. Even last year's dead last, who can't do ninjutsu, tried. So what will it be?"

Naruto glared at Mizuki-sensei and gave it his all. The pain was as bad as any other time he'd slipped and moled chakra through his hands. Namely, burning ice in his veins and pressure building up and threatening to explode through his skin.

"Henge!" Naruto screamed in anger and pain. A puff of smoke and a misshapen version of the Sandaime appeared. Most of the class laughed, except for Hinata, Sakura, and Sasuke.

They chased after him when he fled the room and Sasuke bluntly asked, "What was that?" He knew Naruto was strong, and knew that pain didn't make him scream. "I've shoved kunai through your legs before and you barely grunted and then pulled them out and attacked me! Why does this hurt you?"

The girls already knew, but Naruto quietly said, "Someone tried to kill me once, and the poison got lodged in my hand. Chakra makes it worse."

The next day, Naruto wasn't in class, and Iruka told them that his mother had taken off for family training. He'd be back in time for Graduation, though, if only barely.

* * *

This has largely been sitting on my computer for over two years, but I could never get the end part right. I still don't think it's right, but I wanted to stop being a lump and get it out. If there are mistakes (and I'm sure there are) let me know and I'll do my best to fix them.

Hopefully the next update will not be as long in coming.


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